Dying Embers
by oanya
Summary: The final Hunger Games, where the Capitol children are Tributes. One mistake and your life is over. Wren Fairbane knows she will probably die, but she's going out fighting. She makes 3 rules- Do not show weakness. Do not show emotion. Do not hesitate to kill. But sometimes, the Games don't go the way you thought they would...
1. The Beginnning

**Hey, I'm Oanya. Please review and feel free to check out my other stories for Gallagher Girls and The Mortal Instruments. **

Prologue

Katniss Mellark reached her hand into the big glass bowl. My name was in there, somewhere, written on a piece of paper. _It's going to be me._

My heart pounded wildly at the thought. _It's not going to be me,_ I promised myself. It did nothing to calm me down. I felt scared, and sorry. Even if it wasn't my fault. This was the last ever Hunger Games, where all the childen of the Capitol aged 12 to 18 were put into the reaping. _If I had known what was happening, I wouldn't have liked it, would I_? I asked myself. When the 75th Annual Hunger Games finished, I was 9 years old, too young to understand what was happening. I didn't really watch the Games anyway, I only really started watching them to see the girl on fire.

I always wanted her and Peeta Mellark to win. But now it didn't matter where my sympathies lied. "Mallory Caprice." Katniss called out. I allowed myself a small breath of relief. Only 3 more girls left. The odds were starting to be in my favour. Somewhere in the crowd behind me, pink haired, 14 year old Mallory started sobbing, and stepped forward. Katniss's face showed no emotion, but I think that's because she was told to do the job, nothing more, nothing less. I knew that she had kids, she wouldn't want to see innocent children suffer so much.

Except, she already had seen children suffer. And we weren't all that innocent. Because we were born in the Capitol, our lives were ruined. "Delphi Holloway." Katniss's voice said eerily quiet. Two more girls left.

Delphi stepped up towards the stage silently, her face blank with shock. She was 16. I used to know her, at school. She was in my class. She was a nice girl. "Thistle Lockhearst." Was the next girl. She was a frightened, shaking 12 year old. She seemed too fragile for the Games- with blonde hair and blue eyes she looked like a china doll ready to break at any moment.

Katniss's eyes watched her as she made her way to the stage. She must be remembering her sister- who kind of resembled Thistle. One more girl left.  
The whole crowd stood still. " Wren Fairbane"

I couldn't breathe as I made my way up to the stage. This was it. I was going to die.


	2. My Fake District

I stood silently on the stage while Katniss picked out the boys. A few of them I knew, most of them I didn't. The Capitol was a big city. Next we would pick out our own districts- this way our stylists would know how to dress us for the parade.

Validia Kelder and Ajax Vamos were District 1. Delphi Holloway and Raff Perthshire got District 2. Hestia Phallis and Xanther Winnow picked District 3. Katri Allardyce and Leonis Keene were put in District 4- which was both an amazing and sad coincidence, because Katri and Leonis were cousins. Silver Selkirk and Baron Skrim, who I knew hated each other, found themselves thrust together in District 5. I wondered if they would be the first to kill eachother.  
Thistle Lockhearst and Cronin Frax got District 6. Otillie Snow (President Snow's granddaughter, who I wasn't surprised to see picked) and Septimus Erdvine were District 7. District 8 had two new members,Merope Herriot and Alto Jardine. Nim Ardlace and Magnus Duncain were in District 9. Finola Hinders and Grodin Baye were District 10  
Two girls and two boys were left. Me and Merope Herriot, and Phox Naysmith and Roman Galloway. I knew Phox Naysmith from when I was little, he was kind. I wanted him to be in the District I picked. Please, please, please. I would prefer to be with someone I knew.

We all put our hands into the bowl. The paper gave me a papercut, making my finger bleed. Mallory's paper said District 11. Of course it did. She and Roman Galloway joined District 11, leaving me and Phox with District 12. He gave me a small smile, and I nodded my head in awknowledgement. He was too kind to kill anyone, he wouldn't last a long time. But, the Games change everybody.

"Now, of course, you've seen the Capitol but you haven't seen the inside of the Tribute building. And you haven't seen the Capitol the way it is now, not the inner city, all the refugees were on the outskirts of the Capitol, weren't they?" The woman who was riding in the car with me and Phox said. I forgot her name about two minutes after she introduced herself. She was our escort to the Tribute Building, which still stood on it's original foundations, though some of it had to be repaired.

"Now since you're District Twelve, you do get the top floor, and that means roof access although I wouldn't go up there if I were you, I hate heights." The escort was babbling on cheerily. She wasn't actually a Capitol woman, and the anchor tattoo on the inside of her wrist suggested she was District 4- fishing.  
I wondered if she was actually this nice or if she was just enjoying me and Phox squirm with panic like ants under a magnifying glass. She looked nice enough, with pale brown curls and big warm brown eyes, but who knew what hid underneath her cheery exterior?

"We aren't actually District 12." Phox told her, even though it was obvious. "Why aren't you looking after the fake District 4 kids?" He had noticed the tattoo as well.

Our escort smiled, but her smile was tight. "We were put in a random order, to make things fair." She told us. I scoffed mentally at the word fair. It wasn't fair to punish us for our parent and grandparent's mistakes. Still, I sat silently until we pulled up to the Tribute building. I stood silently in the glass elevator up to the penthouse suite. Then at dinner, I had to talk.

"So, what are your strengths?" Peeta Mellark asked me. When I had first arrived at dinner, I was surprised to see Katniss and Peeta there, but our escort (whose name I found out was Mollie) explained to us we had to have two mentors who were once victors from the District we chose. Katniss would guide us in training, Peeta would get us sponsors. Or, I should say, try to get us sponsors.

"I don't really have any." I muttered unenthusiastically.

"Come on, you must have some." Peeta said kindly. Why was he being so nice to me?

"Nope. Not really." I said, staring down at my plateful of food like it was the most interesting thing in the room. I could hardly wait for the food, it was going to be some of the best food I'd had in years, which were mostly just rations and canned food that always tasted slightly like metal.

"We'll find some." Katniss added to our conversation. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her put her hand on Peeta's, meaning, stop. Good. I didn't want to talk. An Avox came to serve us dessert. She was tall and willowy, with bright red hair that contrasted against her porcelain skin.  
"Hello again, Lavinia." Katniss smiled at the red haired Avox. They knew each other?

"N-Nithe to thee y-you again." Lavinia stuttered. Capitol surgeons were made to make tongues for all Avoxes. The surgery had just been perfected and after not speaking for so many years, the Avoxes all stuttered and stumbled over their words. It was difficult to make out what they were saying- some still preffered to stay quiet.

Lavinia served me raspberry ice and left. I stirred the ice around with a spoon until it turned into raspberry water, thinking about Avoxes. We had three in the house I lived in- A tall black haired man with blue eyes who waited on my parents hand and foot, a girl with brown hair and soft grey eyes who waited on me and another girl who, when I was little, took care of me. If I am honest, I was never kind to my Avoxes. I told them what I wanted and yelled if they didn't do it exactly right.

Looking at Lavinia, I quite regretted it now. They were people too, and they were being treated worse than I was right now. "I'm done." I said, abruptly standing up and knocking my chair over. An Avox man immediately came over to pick it up. I ignored him, and ignored the stares of Phox, Katniss and Peeta.

I went into my room which was suddenly too big and spacious- I was used to sharing an apartment with some other Capitol refugees. I would have stayed in my own apartment but there were too many memories there, of my parents. They wouldn't be mourning the loss of their daughter to the Games, they were dead. And if Peeta or Katniss couldn't find a spark of potential in me, I would be dead too.


	3. Those Eyes

**Thank you for all of your lovely reviews- I actually wish I could hug you all :) You asked for longer chapters, your wish will be granted...**

**P.S. I changed Logan Galloway's name to Roman Galloway, it just sounded more Capitol.**

I lay awake in my huge bed that night. I played with the wallpaper screen that covered the wall to my right, changing the scene from forest, to ocean, to desert, and about a hundred other views. After a while I actually started to fear the images on the wall, thinking- which one of them will be my arena?

I shut off the screen, and swore never to turn it on after that. I tried to comfort myself by thinking of when I was a little girl after my mom used to read me princess stories about the Capitol princess who lived in the High Tower because all of the Districts were competing for her heart, but none of them proved worthy enough. She declared she would make all the Districts pick a boy and a girl who should fight for her love and friendship, and whoever was worthy enough would become her best friend and her prince. She never found her best friend or her prince though, so the Games went on.

That didn't work either- I was angry at the princess for being so stupid and making the Games, even if it was only a story. I considered calling an Avox to make me tea, or hot chocolate, but then decided against it. The sound of Lavinia's slurred voice sounded over and over in my head.

"Oh, for goodness sake." I muttered angrily, sitting up and pushing my silk bedcovers to the floor. I need to do something. I remembered Mollie telling me and Phox how we had roof access- why not just throw myself off the roof of the building? Or at least get some fresh air, if I wasn't feeling dramatic enough to commit suicide. I padded out of my room barefoot, taking care not to wake anyone.

A sleepy looking Avox was waiting beside the door, and I felt so sorry for him I dismissed him so he could get some sleep. He looked so relieved it made my chest hurt. How could I have been so ignorant?

Mollie had also explained how we had Avoxes to stimulate what really happened at the Games. Personally, having them there made me uncomfortable, but I had no choice in it. Outside the air was stiflingly hot, the Capitol City was quiet. I had gotten used to falling asleep listening to the music of a parade or a party.  
"It's too quiet, isn't it?" A voice said behind me. I turned around, expecting to see Phox's face but it wasn't Phox, it was Roman Galloway. An uncomfortable prickle went down my spine.

"No. I like it." I lied. I don't even know why I lied.

"That's not the truth and we both know it. We are, after all, Capitol people, Wren." Roman leaned his arms onto the edge of the building, looking down at the dim twinkle of the Capitol. I was surprised that he knew my name.

"We're not Capitol anymore. We're homeless, and we're now part of fake Districts who I suspect would rather eat us alive than welcome us with open arms." I said bitterly. Roman had nothing to say to that.

After a few minutes he said, "I don't know. Once people see you're eyes they'll be interested in you. You'll get sponsors. Especially with Katniss and Peeta Mellark as mentors."

He noticed my eyes. Of course, most people do, but it took me off guard when he was so kind to me. "Oh for sure. Katniss was the girl on fire, I'll be the girl with the weird eyes." I replied sarcastically.

"If you're going to make friends I would suggest you start being friendly and accepting compliments." Roman bristled, turning cold and unkind.  
"Well forgive me for being wary of a boy who in a few weeks could be washing his hands with my blood." I countered angrily.

"'Well forgive me for being wary'," He mimicked me cruelly in a heavy Capitol accent. "You sound ridiculous. Lose the accent. Blend in. And stop being affected so much by anything anyone says." He stood up suddenly, and stalked back to his floor. I stared after him in shock.

Stop being affected so much by anything anyone says. Was I really that easily affected? When Peeta had tried to be kind to me, I'd tensed up. I'd been feeling guilty from hearing the red-headed Avox speaking. But Roman wasn't there for that- could he really have seen right through me in just a few minutes?

The thought sent shivers running through my body. I needed to make rules that I would have to stick to- rules to survive. I wracked my brain for inspiration. Being emotional was a weakness. I couldn't get emotional if I was going to kill someone to fight for my life. Rule 1- Do not show weakness.  
And while I was at it, I might as well add Rule 2- Do not show emotion. And the last, maybe most crucial thing.

Rule 3- Do not hesitate to kill.

Tomorrow was the Tribute Parade, and after that, since it was the Final Games, a ball. But the day after that would be the start of a week of training. I wouldn't touch anything I knew for sure I couldn't do, like weights or knife throwing. Rule 1 forbade me from showing my weaknesses.  
I fell into my bed that night, exhausted. My dreams were consumed with plans on how to win.

"Ooh, Clio, look at her eyes, aren't they simply gorgeous!" A Capitol woman exclaimed, forgetting the fact that she was supposed to be plucking my eyebrows. The woman called Clio came closer, oohed in marvel and compliments started pouring out of her mouth.  
Clio abandoned waxing my legs to stay and admire my eyes. Though it was a bit annoying after a while, I did like the attention. The other woman and Clio had barely said any words to me, and I hadn't said anything to them in return.

"Oh, Seph,I wonder if they're real." Clio mused out loud. I almost rolled my eyes at the question.  
"Of course they're real, what else would they be?" I asked. Seph and Clio clapped their hands and squealed in delight. Their doll had a voice. I only just realised how silly some Capitol people looked- Seph and Clio were well into their forties, a proper grown up age, but Seph had electric blue hair and Clio had gold body glitter covering every inch of her body and wore three-inch long metallic gold nails.

It was no wonder they commented on my eyes- most people who knew me properly did. My eyes were different colours. My left eye was leaf green, while my right eye was brown. I hated this- and ever since I could remember I had worn contact lenses to make my eyes a simple blue, or whatever colour I fancied- but always the same colour on both eyes at one time. I didn't want people thinking I was a freak.

My parents assured me I was beautiful, but it didn't convince me. They even went as far as getting a cat that had the same eyes I had- but it's left eye was yellow and it's right eye was blue. Again, this did nothing to make me like my eyes more, but I loved the cat to bits, even when it scratched me. At halloween I would get special contacts that made my eyes look like a cats- bright colour and slits as pupils.

I remembered all these memories while Seph and Clio chattered on mindlessly while they worked on me. I barely listened to them, only enough to find out that Seph's full name was Persephone, Ottilie Snow tried to sneak out of the building last night and they were worried instead of cheering at the Parade, we would be booed at.

I mentally kicked myself for listening to their conversation, the thought of being booed at made my stomach ache. "NO!" Seph shrieked. I looked up, puzzled. Clio quickly flew into action, pulling chapstick out of her jean pocket and giving it to Seph. Seph then smothered my lips with the minty-smelling chapstick. I put a finger and gingerly touched my mouth, and when I pulled it away there was blood on my fingers. My mouth tasted coppery, and I realised what I had done- bit so hard on my lip that I had broken the skin. "Honey, do not bite your lips. Ever." Seph was finally serious, her voice was almost threatening.

Typical stylists, God forbid anyone should mess up their masterpieces. My lips started to feel tingly as the minty chapstick went to work and reformed the skin on my lips. "Fine, fine, I'm sorry." I apologised, even though I wasn't really that sorry, I was mostly just freaking out. What would the Parade be like?

Worse, what would our stylists dress us is? Some Capitol stylists were working with normal people from Districts to make our Parade outfits. What if we were dressed in coal dust? The thought made me shudder. Clio washed me down one last time and then gave me a thin dressing gown to wear while my stylist 'inspected' me. Clio led me into another room and left me alone, but not before commenting on how jealous she was of my eyes one more time. This was part of the reason I wore contact lenses- people made too much of a big deal over me, and quite frankly I was a bit shy, I hated meeting new people.

Maybe that's why I was so affected when people talked to me- I tense up and start questioning everything. "Hello." Greeted a soft woman's voice. I looked behind be to see a Capitol woman with bright dyed orange curls that looked like fire when they shook. I would have known her even if the fire hadn't been the obvious giveaway- Makenna Reyes, neice of Portia, who was Peeta's stylist in the 74th and 75th Annual Hunger games. She hadn't been around for a while, since she hadn't been needed, but Portia and Cinna were her tutors and she was one of the volunteers who made clothes for refugees.

I hadn't seen her in 7 years, considering since the Rebellion it had taken everybody around 7 years to get everything organised, and it had also taken them 7 years to decide whether or not to have a Final Hunger Games.

"Hi. I'm Wren Fai-"

"Wren Fairbane. I know." She smiled kindly. "I hope you don't mind, my partner is just finishing up some measurements on Phox. I'm sorry we couldn't be at dinner last night, we were just starting to put the costumes together, it does take a while."

I exhaled in relief. "Costumes. Thank God, I was worried that we were going to be covered in coal dust." Makenna laughed, making her ringlets bob and shimmer into flames. Flames- Katniss and Peeta were covered in flames. I hoped I wouldn't be; I mean, they didn't look as if they were in pain but Cinna and Portia refused to reveal their secrets, but I know other stylists tried to copy their idea using a temporary skinfreeze (the type you use on burns) and small fires that should go out before it burns through the clothes.

Makenna's partner walked in through the door while she was laughing. "What's so funny?" He asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing, Elijah. Wren here was a little worried we were going to make her wear coal dust." Makenna giggled, as if the thought were actually amusing to her. Elijah chuckled. While Makenna was all fiery flames, Elijah was cool silver- his hair was dyed bright silver, his eyes had grey contacts and he wore a silver-striped waistcoat that contrasted against his dark skin. Together they looked like fire and ice.

"Not even over our dead bodies." Elijah reassured me. I hate to say he piqued my curiosity.

"So what will I be wearing?" I asked curiosly. Makenna's eyes twinkled with excitement, and she smiled mischeviously.

"Wait and see!"


	4. The Parade

Makenna hummed softly while she put the finishing touched on my Parade outfit. I could have kissed Makenna- I looked amazing, and there was no speck of coal dust within a two mile radius of me. Elijah smiled at the look on my face and tucked a stray bit of hair behind my ear.

I looked over at Phox, and when he saw me looking he grinned. He was wearing a dark bronze chestplate, the type that some miners wore over their shirts to protect them. There was no shirt under his chestplate, so his muscles were strategically shown. His dark blonde hair was strategically ruffled, and Elijah had put black glitter in his hair, and I had to admit, he looked beautiful.

I was wearing a dark bronze dress that was ruffled so it looked almost looked like feathers, and I felt gorgeous. There were no mirrors around, and before I could look at the dress anymore, Elijah and Makenna ushered me and Phox onto a chariot, just as Katniss and Peeta showed up. They exchanged a glance and their faces broke into huge smiles. I resisted the temptation to bite my lip nervously- the fact that they arrived meant I was all that closer to the Parade.  
"Well, I won't have any trouble getting sponsors now." Peeta looked a bit relieved. "Just remember to smile- Both of you."

"What if they boo?" I couldn't stop myself from asking. Katniss looked almost sympathetic.

"They won't boo. District 12 are favourites now, and with Elijah and Makenna's work, you'll be stunning." She and Peeta exchanged a knowing look, but before me or Phox could ask them what they meant, the chariot lurched forward. The horses were huge and black, at least 17 hands tall, but their reins and feathery plumage on their heads were dark bronze like me and Phox.

"Good luck." Phox whispered to me, just before we emerged into the twinkling lights of the crowd. I flinched away from Phox's touch when he went to reach for my hand, but he followed my hand and held it, squeezing it for comfort. I could only see as far ahead as District 7- Lumber, made up by Ottilie Snow and Septimus Erdvine. Ottilie looked like an ice queen, dressed in what looked like old newspapers- white and black. It was a beautiful dress, but Ottilie ruined it. Her face was shown up on the screen- white blond hair, grey eyes and a sour face on the verge of tears. It wasn't a wonder she was picked, I suspected her name was put in a couple dozen more times than the rest of us, because of who her grandfather was.

District 8 was Textiles, and basically Mallory Caprice and Alto Jardine were dressed in random scraps of material sewn together. They looked awful, to be honest. Their stylists were very obviously not bothered about them. District 9 had Nim Ardlace and Magnus whose last name I forgot dressed up to represent Grain. They were dressed up in skin coloured catsuits with hundreds of stalks of grain sewn on. They also had headbands made of twisted grain. They didn't look good, but they looked better than Mallory and Alto.

District 10 was now the main focus of the crowd as livestock- they had skintight animal print materials barely covering them, the crowd were cheering with surprise and amusement- they looked alluring and dangerous.

District 11 had Roman looking cool, calm and as if he couldn't be less bothered what anyone thought of him, but Merope Herriot blushed and gushed as the crowd cheered for her. Their clothes were almost the same leaf green my eye had, covered in rustic leaves. They looked like they were mythical creatures that just stepped out the forest.

Then the crowd errupted and the noise tripled as people started to notice us. The sound deafened my ears and made my heart jump. I looked over myself, only to see that the dress started burning and turning black- but it didn't hurt. It felt like when water runs over your toes right at the edge of the shore- it tickles.  
Phox squeezed my hand to get my attention. and then jerked his chin over his shoulder. I looked where he was looking, and my mouth dropped open. Makenna and Elijah were... geniuses. I don't know how I hadn't noticed but somehow Makenna and Elijah had incorporated wings from between my shoulder blades stretching down to the hem of the back of my dress. They had done the same thing with Phox's chestplate- I had assumed it was a cape or something.

The wings spread up until they towered high above our heads, spreading out, fluttering softly in the wind. The flames from our clothes reached the wings, turning them ashy black and white- like a Mockingjay. The crowd whooped, cheered, clapped, whistles and threw tokens like roses.

I looked up to see my face, and on the opposite side of the crowd, Phox's face, on the big screens. Phox looked handsome, dark blonde hair and pale blue eyes, and even I had to stay I looked quite beautiful. Elijah had outlined my eyes with gold eyeliner- they made my green eye look brighter, and my brown eye look thoughtful. I knew why I had the wings- my name, Wren, was a bird. It had died out long ago but it was one of the last types of birds to go, it was a surviver.  
And with the flames of the wings behind me- I looked stunning. I looked powerful.

Together, we looked like we could win.

I recoiled from the thought suddenly. There was no together. There was no we. It could only be me, myself and I, until I died.  
As the horses pulled to a stop, and President Paylor began her speech, I barely listened. My heart pounded, my skin prickled. Phox looked at me and gave me a small congratulatory smile. I didn't smile back, and I swear Phox looked hurt.

I turned back to Paylor- who was so beautiful, and young. She looked way too young to be in charge, but her voice carried a kind of authority people listened to, like a teacher, or a mom. My heart was still racing when we got back inside. Elijah and Makenna were thrilled at the crowd's reaction, even though some of the others (like Ottilie Snow) were glaring at us. Thistle, the small, slight, doll-like girl was dressed in clothes too big for her, as her District's Transportation job. covered in sheets of thin metal to make her look like a form of transportation- like cars, or a train. It only made her look smaller, more delicate and fragile.

And then I had to get changed for the ball. Elijah came to help me, and Makenna helped Phox. Elijah had made a whole replica dress in black and white. The wings were obvious now that I knew they were there- and they made the ruffled feather texture of the dress more accented. The Mockingjay theme was back. The only differences in the dress were that this one had no sleeves- it was strapless and had a sweetheart neckline. Elijah's skilled fingers worked my dark black hair into a messy yet elegant low bun, adding a black peacock feather for effect.

"Will you tell me what's bothering you?" He asked me in a low voice, his liquid silver eyes looking at me worriedly

Rule 1- Don't show emotion. "Nothing." I lied, a bit too quickly. Elijah frowned as he adjusted my earrings and necklace.

"That's not true." Elijah raised an eyebrow. "Now tell me what's wrong." He told me gently.  
I sighed. He was just my stylist, nothing more. "Earlier, when I saw myself and Phox on the screen, I thought that we looked unbeatable. We. Plural. And in a few days or a few weeks, one of us might be dead, one of us might have killed the other."

Elijah looked at me sympathetically. "This is nothing to worry about. You're high on adrenaline, emotion over load. You're just misreading emotions." He assured me.

I wasn't that sure, but I wanted to believe him wholeheartedly. "You sure?" I asked nervously.

"Positive. Now get yourself to the ball, gorgeous." He took me by the crook of my arm and led me to the ball hall, leaving me alone for a moment while he got dressed into fancier clothes. I stepped into the hall, feeling like Cinderella. The hall was all gold, glamour and full out Capitol party beauty. The sides of the hall were crowded with tables stuffed full with platters of food, deep bowls of soups and fountains that poured chocolate and on some, drinks.

I was fine standing by myself, watching everybody dance until somebody came up to me and asked, "Do you want to dance?"


	5. Aftermath

"Uuurgh." I groaned as I woke up. I could hear my pulse in my head, and it felt like my brain was imploding. The light than shone in thinly through the gap in my curtains was all too bright for my eyes, and I had to squint, but it didn't help. I stood up slowly, pins and needles prickling up and down my legs as I swayed unsteadily. Stop spinning, I mentally told the room. It didn't listen. Worse- I couldn't remember anything.

I wobbled out of my door and towards everybody else, who was sat at the table with their heads in their hands. Everybody was there except Elijah. Makenna was in the kitchen making something- though it looked like she was just throwing random ingredients into a jug.

"What happened last night?" I asked croakily.

"It's not your fault, none of us realised the punch was alcoholic." Peeta whispered hoarsely.

"The punch was alcoholic? I couldn't even taste the alcohol." I muttered, confused. I remembered something- Phox asking me to dance. Panic, and then making an excuse to go get some punch. It calmed me down so I kept drinking it.

"Yeah, I think that was the point. No wonder it seemed to taste better and better the more cupfuls we drank." Phox rolled his eyes. "Go figure."  
Makenna came back to the table, with a jug of thick red juice that looked like a stawberry smoothie. She put the jug down on the table with a bang that revertebrated through my skull.

"Please don't do that." Katniss rubbed her temples with her thumbs.

"My nana's old hangover recipe. Help yourselves." Makenna looked as hungover as the rest of us. I poured myself a huge cup of the stuff Makenna made and took a sip.

"This is disgusting- is that a raw egg in here?" I muttered. It was tomato juice with chilli, raw egg, orange juice and coffee. It tasted as bad as it smelled, but the smell and taste made my head feel clearer, so I kept drinking.

"Up and attem, we've got the interviews today and... what's up with you?" Elijah burst into the room, carrying to black bags with clothes on a hook.  
"Aren't you just a shining bubble of sunshine?" I muttered angrily.

"Yeah, I don't get hangovers. It's a gift and a curse really." Elijah put the bags holding the outfits down onto the sofa.  
"So since you're so sober, will you tell me what happened last night?" I asked warily.

"You mean you don't remember?" Elijah looked at me guiltily.  
"No." Everybody chorused moodily. Moody. A memory flashed inside my hea- Ottilie Snow standing moodily by the tables, longing to eat but refusing to, because, "I should get used to not eating, shouldn't I? I'm going to be starving to death in a few days.", as she snapped at me when I tried to be friendly to her. I stayed away from her after that.

"Well let's talk alliances first." Peeta said logically, taking a sip of Makenna's concoction and wincing in disgust. "I assume some people made alliances during the party."

"Well, I couldn't pay attention for half of it. While I don't get hangovers, I do get drunk." Elijah shrugged. "But I do remember that Katri Allardyce and Validia Kelder were acting friendly, they are a possible match for an alliance. Ajax Vamos, Delphi Holloway, Raff Perthshire and Xanther Winnow, and Leonis Keene are all in the Career Districts- well, all except Xanther Winnow. Though that doesn't mean anything to them they are, for some reason sticking together."

"Xanther Winnow's father taught him how to deal with electronics and machinery. He's an assett to them." Phox contributed thoughtfully. "Delphi and Raff used to know eachother from the East Capitol school, and Raff is vicious. He's a black belt in pretty much every combat sport there is, and he knows he has power over most of the tributes. It's better to be his ally than his enemy."

Oh, great. Just great. "Any other alliances?" Katniss asked. Elijah held out his hands in an empty gesture.  
"Sorry. That's when I blacked out." Elijah said guiltily. Another memory flashed at me.

"Thistle and Ottilie." I whispered.  
"What?" Makenna asked, straining to hear.

"I said, Thistle and Ottilie." I repeated louder. "They've joined up. I remember watching them and wondering why they allied themselves."  
"It's not like it's going to do them any good." Makenna muttered bluntly.

"At the interviews Caesar he'll be asking the tributes if they've made any alliances, and we'll find out the rest then. Until that happens, who hasn't allied themselves with someone else?" Katniss asked, starting to count off the people left on her fingers. "Silver Selkirk, Baron Skrim, Cronin Frax and Septimus Erdvine..."

"Mallory Caprice, Nim Ardlace." Makenna added.

"Magnus Duncain, Alto Jardine." Finished Peeta.  
"And... you two." Katniss looked from me to Phox. Phox raised his eyebrows in surprise and turned towards me. Dread filled my stomach.  
"Well, I don't know. Do you want to be allies?" He asked me.

"No. No. Absaloutely not." I said fiercely. Phox looked unbearably hurt. "No! I'm sorry, I just- I-"  
"What? Why not?" He asked me, looking at me with genuine concern.

"Because there's only going to be one winner!" I cried out, my voice rising uncontrollably into a high pitch. "And if it's not going to be anybody else, it's going to be one of us, and I don't know about you but I've known you since I was little- I wouldn't be able to kill you. And if we were allies it would make it all the more impossible which is why I have to stay away from you!" I started yelling in a rush.

"But-" Phox stuttered, looking at Katniss and Peeta for help. I stood up suddenly.  
"It was different for them!" I pointed an accusing finger at Katniss and Peeta. "They were the "starcrossed lovers from District 12", the Capitol loved them, and nobody loves us! The Games are only going to have one winner, and it sure as hell isn't going to be me!" And with that I stormed off to my room, leaving everybody behind, staring at me. I could feel Phox's eyes boring holes in my back.

Just as I reached the door I remembered something else. No wonder Phox was looking at me like that, so upset when I refused to be his ally.

_I was laughing at something Phox said, choking on the punch I had just drank. He laughed with me, thinking my ditziness was cute. "You're too good to be true!" I slapped his shoulder lightly. Phox's light blue eyes were wide with hapiness._

_"Look, we've got to stick together, right?" He said it simply, not so much of a question as it was a simple statement._  
_"Yes, we do." I agreed._

_"Partner." Phox winked at me. I smiled, knowing that now I could trust Phox wholeheartedly. I don't even know why I did it, I just stood on my tiptoes, put my arms around his neck and-_

_I kissed him. _My breath was ragged and panicky_. No, no, no, no, no, oh God, please don't tell me I kissed him, _I thought desperately_. I am never, ever drinking again. _  
I felt like banging my head against the wall. "Oh, stupid, moronic, idiotic, stupid-"  
"What's so stupid?" Phox asked, poking his head round my door. I sighed heavily, not knowing what to say. Phox took my sigh to mean I was annoyed to see him. "Look, Wren, I know you don't want to see me, but why don't you want to be my ally?"

I closed my eyes, and avoided his question. "How much do you remember of last night, Phox?" I dreaded the answer.  
Phox looked confused and shrugged. "Nothing, why?" Phox questioned. I almost sighed in relief.

"No reason." I felt unreasonably guilty for lying to him. "Look, I'm sorry, but when one of us dies, it'll just be worse if we were allies who were supposed to protect eachother. You get that, right?"

Phox nodded slowly. "Sure. I get that. Come on, Elijah and Makenna say we have to get ready for the interview."  
I played with my fingers, something I did when I was nervous or in an awkward situation. "'Kay. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Welcome, welcome, welcome everybody to the 76th and Final Annual Hunger Games!" Caesar Flickerman said enthusiastically- though I'm not sure how sincere his enthusiasm was. He stuck to tradition and dyed his hair a different colour for the Final Games-pale minty green.

I was watching the live show from my dressing room, where Makenna was making the final adjustments to my dress. It was again, strapless, with a black top half that glittered with jems and a cream bottom half that was ruffled, keeping with the feather theme. My high heels were one and a quarter inches too high for me to be comfortable in, but Makenna insisted they completed the look. My hair was curled and kept up with pins, and then studded with pearls. My eyes were decorated with eyeliner, mascara and eyeshadow to accent their unusual colouring- something I wasn't sure whether I liked or not.

My dressing room was round, with a mirror curving around one wall, and a platform for me to stand up on while Makenna worked on me. Everything was red, right down to the plush carpet and leather lounging chair. I saw Katniss walk into the room int the mirror's reflection wearing a black dress that twinkled with red jems like fire, her hair in her signature braid.

"Hey." She greeted. "You ready for the interview?"  
"Just about." Makenna said as the same time I said "Not even close."

"What do I say?" I turned around to face Katniss, ignoring the annoyed tuts of Makenna. On the television, Caesar was introducing his first guest, "The lovely and charming, District 1's Validia Kelder!".

"Just be friendly." Katniss suggested.  
"I don't know how to do that. Not to overly nice people anyway- I always think they're hiding something." I shuffled in my dress, shifting my weight from one foot to the other to try and relieve some of the pain in my feet.

"I know how you feel." Katniss sat down on the lounger. I went to sit down next to her. "When I had to do the interviews, my stylist, Cinna, told me to pretend I was talking to him, or a friend. Why don't you try that."

"Sure." I said unenthusiastically. All my friends were either dead, or spoilt Capitol teenagers worrying more about whether there's going to be enough eucalyptus conditioner left for when they take their next shower than whether or not I was going to survive the Games.

Who could I pretend I was talking to? I looked around the room for inspiration, but there was nothing around but Makenna who was packing away her seamstress equipment and Caesar on the television saying goodbye to Raff Perthshire and hello to Hestia. Hestia was willowy 18 year old with honey blonde hair and deep brown eyes that were narrowed in determination.

Dark hair, dark eyes. I knew who I could talk to. My mother. I would just pretend she was watching me in the crowd, and that I was talking to her. Her name was Gisele Fairbain, and she was the kindest woman I had ever known. She was always the one who encouraged the Capitol people to send gifts towards their favourite tributes. She told me one year she contributed a quarter of the money towards giving a tribute called Finnick Odair a trident.

Katniss smiled at me reassuringly, and then took me towards the line to wait until we talked to Caesar. Phox was already in the line, staring straight ahead as if he couldn't see anyone. He didn't smile at me when I joined him in the line.

There was another television in here showing Caesar's show live. He was already up to Thistle Lockhearst, the small girl who had allied herself with Ottilie Snow. "Now, Thistle, I must say that you allying yourself with Ottilie was a surprise for everybody. Can you tell us why you did it?" Caesar was asking little Thistle.  
"Well," She started saying, in a serious tone like she was an adult and not a little kid."Me and Ottilie are both girls who don't really have any friends or people who want to be our allies. It's because I'm the youngest, and Ottilie is President Snow's granddaughter." She said with the candor only kids have.

"And you think this affects her?" Caesar clasped Thistle's small hands in his large ones.

"Yes." Thistle's eyes were wide and truthful. "And I don't see why she should have to be punished. She's really nice. So we just decided we're going to stick together!" She finished happily.

"Well, I wish you both the best of luck, because unfortunately our time's up. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the charming Miss Thistle Lockhearst!" Caesar kissed Thistle's hand, and the audience cheered for the bright, bubbly little girl. Backstage, Ottilie looked around smugly, and when Thistle came back, they gave eachother big hugs, the small twelve year old and the not so small fifteen year old, allied. Cronin Frax was a thin but fit 17 year old with wiry glasses that actually made him look even more gorgeous, but I don't think he even noticed Thistle was in his District. While Cronin was talking to Caesar, I imagined possible scenarios and questions Caesar might ask me, and how I would answer.

My palms were clammy and warm, and my heart pounded wildly. I wish my mom really were here. What would she say in this situation? She had this saying she always used to say. If only I could remember it...

While I was trying to remember what the saying was, time seemed to fly and before I knew it, Caesar was finished talking to Ottilie, who was still smug that she had Thistle as her ally, and told him that girls have to stick together to win, and Caesar had moved on through Septimus, Mallory, Alto, Nim, Magnus and Merope, and was finishing with Roman, who was honest and charming at the same very simply told Caesar how he wasn't going to get any allies, why should he when groups just slow you down and all the time he'd just be wondering if his ally was really trustworthy or just waiting for him to fall asleep so he could be killed.

Caesar agreed that seemed sensible, wished Roman good luck and then invited me onto the stage. The audience remembered my name and cheered. Wren, Distict 12. Katniss and Peeta's new prodigy, the girl with the wings, the girl with the strange eyes.  
As I sat down on the plush cushions of the chair, I suddenly remembered what my mom used to say.

_Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something is more important than fear. Faith is not the absence of doubt, but rather the courage to believe in spite of doubt_. A took a breath, imagined my mom was sat in Caesars place, and began my interview.


	6. Victim of Words

**Thank you for the lovely reviews ! I realise some things may not be clear yet but feel free to ask questions, tell me what you want from the story (a romance, a love triangle, hint hint?) and I promise things will become clearer as soon as the Games start- one more chapter to go and the Games start!**

"So, Wren." Caesar started. "That's a beautiful name, did you know it was a bird?"  
"Yes, I did." I smiled.

"So what did you think of your outfit for the Parade?" Asked Caesar. "And what did you think of the Mockingjay theme, and being set on fire?"

"Well, my outfit was beautiful, I didn't even notice the wings, or the fire until Phox pointed it out to me." I laughed a little. "My stylists, Makenna and Elijah are full of surprises- I knew that fire is a theme of District Twelve's and I was kinda hoping I wouldn't be set on fire, to be honest.  
"Yes, well, who would?" Caesar smiled encouragingly. "Speaking of Phox, a little birdie told me they saw you and Phox kissing at the party last night?" My heart skipped a beat.

I forced myself to give a little laugh. "I can't really remember much of last night. I didn't realise the punch was alcoholic." I said a little reluctantly. To my surprise, Caesar chuckled.

"Been there, done that." He confided to the audience, who laughed. "And you can't always believe in rumours."  
"No, you can't." I said just because there was nothing else to be said. I silently thanked God that the drinks that made you throw up to leave more room to eat were banned- who knew what disaster could have happened if I had gotten my hands on those?

"So, we've recently found out about a lot of alliances. Are you allied with anyone? Perhaps Phox?" Caesar asked the question I had been dreading.

"No, me and Phox decided it was better we don't ally ourselves." I said.

"So I'm guessing we you aren't starcrossed lovers?" Caesar leaned in, raising his minty green eyebrows.

"No, we aren't. We're just friends. We've known eachother since we were little kids." I explained.  
"Well that is both a bit of a relief and a dissapointment." Caesar shook his head sadly. I was kicking myself- now everybody knows I have emotional ties to Phox.

"So, just before our time ends, how well do you think you're going to do in the Games?" Caesar asked me.

"Well, all I can say is that the Wren was one of the last birds to die out. It was a surviver, and so am I." I said firmly. Caesar looked impressed.  
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, I think that says it all. Ladies and gentlemen, Wren Fairbane!" Caesar held up my hand, and the audience cheered for me. Caesar kissed my hand in goodbye and then I was free to go. Only Phox left.

I sat beside Katniss, Peeta, Makenna and Elijah in the District 12 room- they were all dressed up because the camera occasionally showed a shot of their reaction to what we said. I watched Phox's interview, nervous for no reason.

"-Phox Naysmith ladies and gentlemen!" Caesar was introducing Phox. "So, Phox. I must ask this first, because I think both me and the audience are dying to know- what do you have to say about your alleged kiss with District member Wren?"  
Phox ducked his head."Well, Caesar, like Wren said, you really can't trust rumours. I don't remember anything that happened last night."

"Well hands up, who does?" Caesar turned to the aurience. None of the audience raised their hands, and, and they all laughed. "Fine, so you and Wren aren't in love - More's the pity- but is there anybody else you like? Even a little bit?"

"No, I have a few people I used to be friends with when I was younger, but I haven't spoken to them in years." Phox ran a hand through his hair.

"And while we know that you and Wren aren't allies, do you have any other allies?" Caesar questioned.  
"No, I don't have any allies, but you never know, maybe I'll get some when the Games start." Phox shrugged. For some reason, the television showed a shot of me and everybody else in the District 12 Waiting room.

"And last but not least, how do you think you're going to do in the Games?" Caesar raised an eyebrow.  
"I'll level with you, Caesar, I don't see killing in my future." In the waiting room, Katniss threw her hands up in frustration. He shouldn't reveal everything, it will make him vulnerable. "I can't imagine myself killing unless I really need to. And if I can't win by hiding and survivng, I guess I just won't win."

"Spoken like a true martyr, but a brave man." Caesar nodded. "And I'm afraid our time is up. Please give it up for Mr Phox Naysmith!" The audience clapped, but didn't cheer. Phox may have just ruined himself on purpose.  
While Caesar signed off his show, Phox came into the waiting room. "What the hell was that?" Katniss snapped at Phox.  
"Katniss." Peeta said quietly.

"Don't 'Katniss' me!" Katniss threatened. "He just made outed himself to everyone as somebody who would be easy to kill! How are we supposed to keep him alive now?"

"We could use it to our advantage." Peeta said methodically. "Now somebody like Raff thinks he won't put up a fight, but if we teach him how to use a weapon, something that can kill from a distance, like a gun or a bow and arrow, he'll have an advantage."  
"No. Absaloutely not." Phox shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I am not a killer!"

"Neither were we!" Katniss yelled. "You have no idea how much the Games change you because it's either kill or be killed, stabbed or starved to death, and when it comes right down to it, which side of the knife would you rather be on? One way or another, you will have killed by the end of the Games, for what reason, I don't know yet but it's a certainty."

Katniss stopped yelling and sighed. "We start training tomorrow. Sleep off whatever suicidal phase you're going through, and tomorrow, at least let us prepare you. OK?" It was a question, but Katniss said it so forcefully it was more like an order. She stormed out of the room, and Peeta ran after her. Elijah and Makenna gave eachother a look and walked out the room awkwardly.  
"So I'm guessing everybody's-"

"What is wrong with you?!"I burst out.

"-...Mad at me." Phox finished. He sighed. "Including you, I see."

"What is wrong with you?" I repeated again. "In fact, don't answer that. Just tell me what the hell you were thinking when you decided to make yourself a candidate for the soon to be dead list?" I snapped. Phox looked at me incredulously.

"What the hell is wrong with me? What's wrong with you? First you don't want to be allies and now you're worried about my safety?" Now Phox snapped at me. I was taken aback- all the years I had known him, he had never gotten into a fight. Ever. He was always nice, even when the other kids teased him because his mom and dad were divorcing. I didn't like his mom, she was strange. She had a wig for every day of the week and she always smelled like blood and roses, though I never knew why. She was a huge supporter of President Snows, and was part of his advisory group. I was quite relieved when she moved towards the Outer West City, even thought that part eventually got bombed.  
I didn't say anything. I didn't understand why he didn't realise whatever I told myself, I cared about him. He was a piece of the jigsaw of a life I used to know, one of the few remaining pieces. I didn't want to lose him.

"I'll see you at training tomorrow, Phox. Good night." I whispered hoarsely. Phox's eyes were filled with regret, and he moved to stop me but I shook him off.

I barely realised where I was going until I was staring down at the twinkling city lights. Once they provided a source of comfort, now they just made me feel hollow.

"Feeling suicidal?" I was only half surprised to find Roman Galloway on the roof. Like me, he was still in his interview clothes. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.  
"What are you doing?" I asked, not shrugging the jacket off. Why was he being nice?

"If you're going to jump, you should at least be warm on the way down." He replied casually. And the niceness is gone, I thought. "Though if you are going to jump, it's an awful waste to get blood on the jacket." I yanked the jacket off my shoulders, rolled it up in a ball and threw it as hard as I could towards Rowan's chest. I hated to admit, he looked good in green clothes- the same dusty leaf green he wore for the parade, only this time in suit form.

"Are you warmer now?" He asked innocently.  
"Don't be such a jerk." I snapped at him.

"Oh, dear, did little Fox upset you?" I could tell from the way he said it he called Phox 'Fox' like the animal.  
"No." I said bitterly.

"Wow, he really isn't the brightest crayon in the box." Roman muttered.  
"What?" I asked irritably.  
"You know, not the sharpest tool in the shed, 51 cards short of a deck, fell out the family tree at birth," Roman went started listing metaphors.  
"Yeah, I get it."

"Thicker than two short planks of wood stuck together with stupid glue." Roman offered.  
"I said, I get it." I snapped. Roman looked at me, as if considering something.

"I have a little sister out there, somewhere. I wonder what she's doing." Roman said honestly.  
"Oh, now it's story sharing time?" I was not in the mood for his mood swings.

"Her name's Payson. I was supposed to take care of her when our parents died." Roman continued, ignoreing my comment. I couldn't help but feel a stab of sympathy. He and his sister were orphans too. "Do you have any family?"

"Nope." I shook my head. "Just me."

"Shame. But it's better that way." Roman said simply. "You should go get some sleep. Big day tomorrow. Listen to Katniss, remember everything she says, and focus on learning how to use a range of weapons, not just one."

I turned around to tell him to stop being so nice, but he was already gone. And coincidentally, it was time I was gone too- my dress was starting to feel too tight and my feet hurt like hell. I took off my heels and walked barefoot back into the penthouse suite. Thankfully nobody was around except the Avoxes. I was almost at my room when Mollie burst in throught the door, dark ringlets bouncing. I had gotten so used to seeing Makenna, I was surprised when Mollie's ringlets didn't turn into flames.

"I came as soon as I heard!" She exclaimed, rushing over to me.

"Heard what?" I asked wearily.

"The interview. Phox. What did you think I meant?" She asked, confused.

"Never mind. Where were you? I haven't seen you in days." I quickly changed the subject. Mollie smiled triumphantly.  
"I have been getting you..." She paused for effect. "Sponsors!"

"You've done what?!" I exclaimed, pleasantly surprised.  
"Yeah, well after the parade it was really easy. I just got talking with some of my friends about how nice you are and-"  
"Wait a second- I'm nice?" I spluttered. Mollie raised an eyebrow.

"Well not when you interrupt me." She said pointedly. "Anyway, long story short, I've got you at least two sponsors already- all I need to do is get Peeta to seal the deal."

"Well that's great." I said, almost too tired to be enthusiastic.

"Yeah, I just wish I could say the same for Phox, but after his little stunt most people don't want to waste their money on someone who's likely to die within the first two minutes." Mollie looked regretful. I felt worn down.

"I've got to go to sleep, Mollie. Big day tomorrow." I said tiredly, not realising I was quoting what Roman had said to me on the roof. Mollie told me good night and left me on my own. I took off my dress and put on a baggy top, too tired to be bothered with anything else. I collapsed onto my bed, ignoring the silk bed sheets and just sleeping on top of them.

I don't know when I fell asleep but the next thing I know is Makenna waking me up, pulling open the curtains and exposing my eyes to harsh sunlight. "Up, up, up! It's going to be a big, big, big day!" She said cheerfully.  
"What?" I murmured.

"Nothing, it's just something Effie Trinket used to say. Katniss told me it's a great method of waking people up." Makenna shrugged.  
"Yeah it is. It's far too cheerful for the morning." I hid my head under my pillow.

"Not a morning person then, I take it?" Makenna said sympathetically, taking the pillow off my head. "Would it help if I bribed you with coffee?"  
"It would indeed." I climbed out of my bed, following the rich bitter smell of coffee. I didn't mind the taste, and it was something I had been craving for 7 years, but the only coffee we had was the recycled instant that tasted disgusting.

Makenna followed me out the room to where everybody else but Elijah was at the table- Phox drinking black coffee, Peeta was pouring a whole saucer of milk and two lumps of sugar into his- he was obviously not used to the taste of coffee- , and Katniss was drinking something that was too creamy to have any caffeine in it.

"I prefer hot chocolate." She explained, taking another sip. "And you should drink up too. Both of you- big meals, we've got hard training ahead of us. I'm going to be teaching you weapons and survival, Peeta's going to be teaching you how to disguise yourself and everything to do with food, from finding it, cooking it and preserving it. We don't know what type of environment you'll be in."

Her last sentence weighed down on me and Phox heavily. It could be a forect with wildlife, which would be the best, because there would be a lot of food supplies. Unless the wildlife were muttations like wild dogs. Or we could be in barren wasteland, relying solely on gifts from sponsors. Or an island in the middle of the ocean with no other food than poisoned fish.

I never realised how unfair the Games were until now. And I never realised just how crucial the few days of training were to the Tributes. I had to get as much training as I could.  
"So," I said. "What are we waiting for?"


	7. Tick Tock

**Enjoy:) I love hearing what you all think will happen, but to keep the element of surprise I can't tell you what's going to happen;)**

**I was going to upload tomorrow but I said I would do it today... wish me luck, I've got a history essay on the abolition of the slave trade :/... wish me luck **

"No, hold your elbow higher." Katniss instructed, pushing my right elbow higher, making the bow and arrow go level with the bullseye. "Aim... and now release."

I did what she told me, and the arrow struck the wall a foot away from the target. I sighed in frustration, and Katniss's brow furrowed. "It's useless." I let the bow drop to my side.

"Maybe knife throwing?" Katniss suggested.

"Sure. Why not." Just another thing I'm useless at, I thought. Katniss picked up two jagged looking knives and threw them both at the target. They both struck in the middle. Katniss went up to the target and took both knives.

"It's just like threading a needle. See the opening, be accurate, and be powerful." Katniss told me.

"I've never threaded a needle before." I muttered under my breath. I took one of the knives from Katniss. It was surprisingly heavy. I took a deep breath and tried to see the target as Katniss saw it. Come on, Wren, you got this.

THe small yellow circle in the middle- that's where I want to hit the target. That target is my enemy. I want to- No, I need to do this.  
I drew my hand back and hurled the knife towards the target. It stuck inbetween the blue and the black, wobbling backwards and forwards. Katniss nodded. "It's a start." She nodded. "I want you to try something. It may seem difficult at first but it's the best thing to get you trained."  
Katniss walked towards a fighting area with black figures in the shape of men. "When one of these lights up, you need to strike it where the target it. If you don't, some of them throw knives, others spit fire. Life or death situation."

"What?!" I exclaimed, backing away. "No way."

"Yes way. In the Games, when someone is chasing you and you know they have the upper hand, adrenaline and insticts takes over. Your actions and reflexes become sharper." Katniss pushed me gently towards the fighting centre.

I stepped nervously towards the middle, marked by a red circle. I took a shaky breath. There were weapons hung on racks around the room. Some of the figures had weapons on them as well."Ready?" Katniss asked. I nodded, not trusting my voice. For some reason I felt like I was being betrayed by my mentor. Why would she risk my safety just to get me trained? It's not like it was going to do me any good in the moment, when I was going to be terrified, with no time to think.

"Ready. Begin. 5...4...3.." An electronic voice counted down. I took a knife from the closest rack to my left, and got myself ready. A beep sounded behind me, I spun around to see a that one of the figures had a light on its leg, lit up. I threw the knife towards the leg. It didn't hit it, and an arrow shot towards me, skimming past my leg, so close it ripped my black pants.

I gasped and flinched away from the arrow. My heart pounded faster and my eyes narrowed. That time it was just an arrow, next time it could be something worse. A beep sounded to my right, and I spun around and sinc I had no weapons I gave it a powerful flying kick. I smiled with triumph when it rewarded me with two small throwing stars. Two beeps sounded behind me- two figures were lit up. One light was lit up on a figure's chest, the other figure had a light blinking on it's head. I threw the first throwing star and it struck the head neatly. The other one skimmed the figure's chest and embedded itself into the figure's arm.

A compartment opened up in the figure's chest and fire burst out. Some flames landed on my clothes, setting fire to the hem of my top and the material on my thigh. I pounded at the flames to put them out, but not before it gave me bad burns. Another beep sounded to my side, but I was too focused on my burns. Clay pellets pelted my left side, making me cry out in pain.

"Come on! Focus!" Katniss yelled. "Pick up the bow and arrow!"

I looked up, towards the figure I struck before I was burned. A bow and arrow was my reward. I picked it up, just as another beep sounded. It was a figure advancing towards me with a long knife.

"Thread the needle!" Katniss called advice to me. I put the arrow in place. I pulled the string back. I lifted my elbow. I aimed at the advancing figure and I let go. It struck dead in the center. The black figure stopped. Everything stopped. And then all the black figures receded, sliding backwards.

"Well done." Katniss gave me a pleased smile. I wasn't done though.  
"Again." I ordered.

"Well done. I'm proud of you." Katniss told me two hours later. I was covered in a fine sheet of sweat, my hands were callused and still healing even though Katniss gave me skin regenerate cream specialised for burns an hour ago. "And now you need to go see Peeta. He's in the training hall down on the second left." Katniss threw me a towel.  
"OK. Thanks." I smiled at her gratefully.

"Are you sure you don't need some more healing cream?" Katniss looked at my hands, turning them over. "You told me you could climb trees."  
"Yeah, I can. Me and my friends used to climb up trees all the time to get away from the teachers we hated. I just haven't done it in ages." I said defensively. "I'll just wrap them up in bandages and the skin'll get thicker- which should make it easier to deal with spiky bark and stuff, right?"

"I've never heard anyone from the Capitol be so happy about getting rough skin." Katniss wrapped soothing blue bandages around my palms. It made the pain in my hands go away.

"Well, things change." I glanced up at her. "See you after the interviews." I told her. Caesar was holding another interview for both of the mentors of the sponsors tonight.

"Yeah, bye." Katniss said absentmindedly. She was already arranging everything to be ready for Phox. I slipped out of the room silently, while Katniss was humming a song to herself.

Down the hall, second on the left. Peeta was just finishing with Phox, showing him how to paint himself as tree bark. Peeta looked amazing, but Phox looked like a little kid had gotten loose with paint.

"Just keep trying. Remember to be fine on the small details." Peeta encouraged, though underneath his smile he looked a bit hopeless, and almost relieved when he saw me. "Wren, good you're here. Phox, Katniss is waiting for you, second on the right."

Phox used a tissue to wipe the paint off his arm, but it left greyish-brown smudges up and down his arm. Phox left the room without saying anything else. "Please tell me you're more artistic than he is." Peeta looked tired.

"Yeah, I guess I'm OK, but he's amazing. I've seen him draw." I pointed towards the direction Phox left. "Do you think he's faking?" Peeta considered it.  
"It is possible. Johanna Mason pretended to be weak when she was a really good fighter." Peeta's brow furrowed. "I'll talk to him later. Right now we need to focus on you. How'd your session with Katniss go?"

"Great, actually. She's a good teacher." I told him. Peeta smiled proudly because of his wife. His wife. It was hard to believe they were married- and married so young, at 18, though I heard they did it officially with a proper ceremony a few years after the rebellion.  
And I can't believe Peeta's a father. His daughter is very young, staying with her grandmother and godfather, somebody called Gale, I think, back in the rebuilt remains of District 12. I was so sad when I heard his and Katniss's unborn child was miscarried in the Quarter Quell.  
Peeta raised an eyebrow at me. I realised I was staring. "Sorry, your arm is..." I trailed off, not knowing how to end my lie. Thankfully, Peeta was distracted.

"If you're patient and talented, I could teach you how to something like this." Peeta offered.  
"Really?"

"Depends on your artistic flair, really." Peeta smiled, and picked up a paintbrush. In a few minutes he had painted my hand the same texture as burnt wood.

"That's amazing!" I breathed. Peeta smiled modestly.  
"Come on, food and survival first, painting later." Peeta took my shoulder and gently pulled me towards a bunch of rocks, twigs and flint. "Now,in the Games, using a fire isn't reccomended. It's a good way to get you spotted, killed, burnt and if it's windy there's a slight chance you could set something on fire. But if you desperately need it, you need to know how to build one and start one. So. Build me a fire."

I shrugged. It seemed easy enough. Fire equals big no-no unless I want to die. I gathered the rocks and put them in a circle, then filled the middle with bone-dry twigs and bits of dead grass. "There." I said, pointing towards my fire. "I built you a fire."  
"You need to start it as well, Wren." Peeta said gently.

"Oh. Uh, OK." I said hesitantly. Building a fire, I could do- it was common sense. But starting it was a whole different story. I knew that friction burned- enough to make a spark? I didn't know a lot of science- I was thumbing through costume surgery magazines, too bored to listen to the teacher. Not that she was a good teacher anyway, she didn't care much about science as she did about excessive glamouring. In the space of three months she gave herself cat claws, whiskers and ears, dyed her skin turquoise with black stripes like a cat and then encrusted her body with paw-shaped jewels- her obsession with cats (tame, domestic housecats, which were rare and she had 3 of) was taken one step too far, especially when she added sharp cat teeth.

I picked up a rock and the piece of flint, and banged them together. Nothing happened. I did it again, scraping the flint and rocks. Orange sparks flew from the rock towards the twigs. They didn't catch, though. I narrowed my eyes in detirmination, and repeated the action again and again. After about a dozen tries, a few sparks caught onto the dry grass, and built up into flames, and then a roaring fire. I sat back on my heels, satisfied.

"There." I told Peeta, pleased with myself.

"Yes. And not that it's not good, but it took you seven minutes and fifty-two seconds." Peeta held up a stopwatch. "And if you're on the brink of death through starvation or cold, seven minutes is not good enough."

Peeta stamped out the flames with his foot. I wondered why it didn't hurt him until I remembered he had a prosthetic leg. "Again." Peeta told me, handing me new twigs. I rearranged my fire and did everything I did before, over and over again. It took me five more tries before I figured out the closer I get to the heart of the twigs and grass and stuff, the better the flame would catch on. I flinched away from the burning heat of the flame.

"31 seconds. That's a significant improvemet." Peeta nodded, pleased. "And now that you have your fire, you can cook. I can teach you how to cook meat, but not how to catch them, you'll learn that at the whole group training session. Peeta glanced at his watch. Fine, I have one hour to teach you how to disguise yourself before you have to go to that."

"Right after?" I exclaimed. "With no rests inbetween? Thats a bit harsh."

"If you know what's good for you, you won't complain. You need to be as prepared as possible. It isn't against the rules but I'm pretty sure the other trainers didn't put as much effort into pre-training training." Peeta said this while mixing paints.  
"Pre-training training? Is that what this is?"

"Yeah. OK, disguise basics, you need to blend with your background, be subtle, and it's not all about paint. I once disguised myself as a rock using mud." Peeta pointed towards a variety of things in the corner of the room. "Makenna and Elijah will dress you up in something to camoflauge you, but that can only go so far."

"OK, so what do I do?" I asked, eager to start. Peeta started teaching me how to get colours out of natural resources, like mud, berry juice, and, to my disgust, animal faeces. I had a feeling I wouldn't be using the latter to disguise myself. He then showed me how to paint and blend the colours on my skin, and then how to spot someone disguising themselves, just in case an enemy happened to be a good artist. An hour seemed to fly by, and before I knew it Mollie was dragging me out of the training room, down the glass elevator and into another training room, one three times the size of Katniss and Peeta's training rooms combined.

I hated every moment I spent there. Forget the fact that Phox ignored me, Roman kept glancing at me to see what I doing, and Raff and the other 'Careers' looked at me like I was the meal they had been waiting for after starving for months. I shuddered when I got out the doorway, forcing myself to walk and not run towards Mollie when she appeared at the doorway.  
"Well? Anything to worry about?" Mollie asked me. Phox didn't say anything.

"Thistle and Ottilie aren't anything to worry about, unless they can kill us by tying weak knots." I said. "Raff and the other Career-type people are, obviously, vicious. Roman is skilled but he doesn't seem to care about anything, which can't be said for Mallory, who I think is trying to start off the whole starcrossed lovers thing again, cause she follows Roman around everywhere, and blushed whenever he does so much as sneeze." I sounded surprisingly annoyed. Mollie was deep in thought, until we got up to the room.

"You're going to have to sabotage yourselves." Mollie said.  
"Excuse me?" Phox looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Phox, it's not like you don't have experience in that area." Mollie said cruelly to get him to shut up. "Wren, you'll get to show your skills to the head Gamemakers, and if they give you a bad mark, you won't seem like a threat."

"But if she doesn't seem like a threat, she'll be among the first to die." Phox interrupted. Mollie ignored him again.  
"The only problem is, the Head Gamemaker, Django Valentine, is not a man who's easily fooled. If he thinks you're lying about your skills, he will deliberately make the Games harder for you to get a good show going." Mollie bit her lip nervously.

"Well, I have to try, don't I?" I said, already coming up with a plan. "I'll do it. But I need to talk to Katniss and Peeta first, otherwise if Caesar asks them how they think I'll do, they'll give me away."

"Wren, they've already started the interviews." Phox turned on the TV.  
"District 11." I murmered. "We've still got time- we need to go. Now!"


	8. Pure Evil

"Thank you to the District 11 mentors, India and Croy!" Caesar said, holding his hand up in the direction of the District 11. "And now, for my favourite and most anticipated guests, Katniss and Peeta Mellark!" The audience errupted into cheers and claps. I ran up to the side entrance of the stage and grabbed Peeta's arm, stopping him midstep.

"Make me weak!" I whispered. He frowned. I hoped it was because he didn't know why I wanted to be painted weak, not because he didn't know what I meant, or didn't hear what I said. Peeta sat down on the loveseat next to Katniss.

"My dear Katniss, how have you been?" Caesar clasped Katniss' hand in his. Katniss smiled demurely, but her eyes looked a bit vicious. I wondered why- I mean, I'd heard rumours he had something to do with Peeta being tortured by President Snow when he was in the Capitol, but that couldn't be true, could it?

"I've been very well, thank you." Katniss's eyes glanced towards Peeta affectionately, just for a second, but Caesar caught it and smiled.  
"That's great. I hear you got married again, with friends and family, and you now have a baby girl?"

"Yes, Prudence Rose- the Rue in Prudence is for Rue, and Rose is for Katniss's sister, Primrose." The audience _aahed_. " But we're not here to talk about us, Caesar." Peeta reminded Caesar.

"Prudence Rose..." Caesar echoed. "How lovely for you. Speaking of lovely, what do you think about your talented young tributes?" I flinched at the word _talented_. I could imagine Django Valentine in my mind, looking at the television with interest, soaking in every little detail about us. Django was third in line after Senecca Crane to become a head Gamemaker, once Senecca, and then Plutarch Havensbee retired. Django was a ruthless man, who was forever arguing with the head Gamemakers to make the arena even more deadly and dangerous.

Peeta looked briefly towards the edge of the stage where I stood. "No offence, Caesar, but they're Capitol. Most of them have never had any combat training, and they are hard to train." Peeta sighed, and then continued. "They have some potential, I just hope we can teach them enough in such little time."

Caesar looked a bit surprised, like he wasn't expecting that answer. "Really? No skill at all? With such amazing trainers like yourselves, I have to say, that wasn't the answer I was expecting." Caesar persisted.  
"Well, we try, and I think Wren and Phox do have some skills, just not skills they can use to keep them alive unfortunately." Katniss said regretfully, shaking her head sadly.

"Well," Caesar took a deep breath, running a hand through his stiff overgelled green hair. "Let's hope that changes soon. What do you think the arena is going to be like?"

"A surrounding with trees and wildlife like muttations and strangling vines are always favourites, but maybe Django Valentine will be feeling nostalgic and go for something like an island in the middle of the ocean." Katniss said, quite coldly.

"Well, speaking of Django, my very good friend Liona is waiting in Veritas Square to interview Django right now." Caesar said, either not noticing or simply ignoring Katniss's coldness. "And that, unfortunately, is our time up. Ladies and gentlemen, Peeta and Katniss!"

The audience clapped but didn't cheer. They were stunned- not expecting the interview to go that way. Maybe they thought that Katniss and Peeta would go to the interview victorious and excited with their new tributes, who were so talented and powerful one of them was sure to win. They didn't get what they wanted. And while Katniss may loathe the Capitol for what they made her lose, she was still a person, who knew she was sending me and Phox to our deaths. While the audience was dissapointed, I was relieved. Now I had a chance to convince Django Valentine I wasn't worth keeping an eye on.

"That had better be worth it." Katniss snapped at me, yanking off her heavy dangly earrings and tossing them aside.  
"Yeah, what was that all about?" Peeta asked.

"If I can convince Django Valentine that I'm no good at anything, he'll give me a bad mark and eliminate me from the immediate target list." I explained. "But Mollie says Django is a bloodthirsty-"

"Psychotic evil man." Katniss finished for me, considering what I said. "I see your point. Come on, let's watch the interview."  
Katniss took us back to our penthouse room and sat us down on the sofa. Liona Whitehart was introducing Django and starting to ask him questions.

Beside me, Katniss stiffened and inhaled in shock. "Is it just me or does that..." Peeta said hoarsely. He had gone stiff and weird too.  
"Yes. He looks exactly like Cinna." Katniss looked like she had just seen a ghost.

"They were cousins." Makenna filled in, looking at Katniss with sympathy. "Their mothers were twin sisters, and surprise, surprise they look the same, but they are two completely different people."  
"Yeah, I can see." Katniss looked pale and sick.

"While I can't tell you what the arena is going to be like, I can give you hints. It's going to be familliar and different, new and old, and it's going to be challenging, and a total surprise to everyone." Django's eyes glinted with amusement. He was smiling at Liona, but as if he were tolerating her, tolerating everyone. Like he was better than everyone.

"Well, that is most intruiging, and I expected nothing less from such a mysterious man like you." Liona said flirtatiously. "Are there going to be any new muttations?"

"Again, you're going to have to wait and see, but I can guarantee some new faces, and some old ones too." Django winked at Liona and she blushed. I stopped listening around then. I was worried again.

Katniss's eyes looked bleary, and she excused herself. I did too, leaving Phox, Peeta, Makenna, Mollie and Elijah in the living room, watching the interview. I was going to show my skills to Django. All I had to do was pretend I was useless at everything- which I used to be, but now, not so much.

I suddenly felt really tired. I curled up under my covers, wrapping the light blue silk around my body. I shivered, cold even though the room temperature was normal. I fell asleep around midnight, and had nightmares about Cinna and Django, each one of them was giving me advice, but I didn't know who was who, who I should trust. I trusted Django. I was in an arena, starving, bleeding and so so thirsty. Eleven people stood in from of me. Not tributes though- people I knew. My mother, my father, my best friend, Katniss, Peeta, Makenna, Elijah, Mollie, my grandmother and strangely, Phox and Roman.

"Kill them." Django hissed in my ear.

"No." I took in a ragged, scared breath.

"_Do it!_" He yelled. I could feel the outline of a heavy, cold gun in my hand. I looked up at him. He looked like Cinna, but he wasn't kind. His eyes were blood red.  
"I won't! You can't make me!" I screamed, regretting the words as soon as I said them. Django's eyes glinted barbarically.  
"Oh, no?" He asked, lifting his hand up, holding an invisible gun. As he did so, my hand lifted up as well. He was controlling me. "Who shall be the first to go? How about your dear old father?" His finger tightened around the trigger, pulling it until a shot sounded and my father collapsed.

"DADDY!" I yelled, feeling like a small child. I hadn't called him 'daddy' in years, insisting I was too grown up for that. I didn't feel grown up any more. His body burst into flames, and was carried away by a hovercraft. I could barely see, my vision was blurry through the tears.  
"Now kill them before I do it for you, and believe me, when I'm through with them you will be wishing you had done it yourself." Django snarled. My hand was shaking.

"You are one of the kindest people I know, Wren. This won't make you evil. Just pull the trigger." Phox spoke out, smiling at me gently.  
"It's OK, Wren, I understand." My mom joined in, encouraging me.

"We still love you, honey." My grandmother told me. "Me first. It's going to be OK." I lifted the gun up, my hand shaking. I aimed it in the direction of my grandmother, closing my eyes. I heard her tiny, frail body crumple to the ground. Django laughed beside me.  
"I love you, hon. Remember that." My mother told me. I pulled the trigger, aiming for her.

"It's our turn, Wren." Makenna told me firmly.

"You don't deserve to die." I sobbed, gasping for air.

"Neither do you. Just do it, Wren. We don't blame you." Elijah encouraged me. Two more shots sounded, two more people died.  
"You have a daughter. I won't kill you. I refuse." I turned towards Katniss and Peeta. They were standing inside two fire circles, apart from each other.

"You have to do it. If you don't he'll hurt Prue." Peeta told me. "Do it for us, Wren."

"Don't let him hurt our daughter." Katniss told me. "Don't think about it. Just do it."

"I'm so sorry." I cried, shooting twice more. Katniss and Peeta's hands reached out towards eachother just before the bullet reached them. Their fingertips barely touched. And now their child was an orphan.

The gun clicked after I shot Peeta. There were no more bullets left, but Phox and Roman were still alive. "Oh, my God." I breathed. I didn't realise I had a limited number of bullets. I had to choose who I wanted to die a painful death- I thought I just had to kill them all.  
"I'm feeling particularly... generous." Django stood beside me again, a small metal thing in his palm. "You get one extra bullet. But who you give a quick death is up to you..."

"Shoot him, Wren. I can take the pain." Roman told me.

"No, shoot him. We've known each other longer, you shouldn't have to kill me." Phox told me. I closed my eyes. I didn't see who I shot.  
I woke up shivering and sobbing. A dark figure stood in my doorway. I turned on the light and picked up the closest thing I had to a weapon- a remote that controlled the viewscreen, the one I swore never to turn on again. I threw it towards the figure, hard.

"Ow! Goddamnit, Wren, you were screaming, I came to check up on you!" Phox hissed, clamping his teeth down on his lip against the pain of the reinforced glass hitting him.

"Phox?" I sobbed, relieved to be out of the nightmare. It wasn't real. It wasn't real, I told myself. My heart kept pounding faster than a freight train.

"What's wrong?" Phox came closer to me.

"I had a really, really bad nightmare." I whispered. Images of me shooting everyone I cared about flitted across my mind. "It was so real."  
"Well, it's OK. It wasn't real, it was just imagination. I'm here now." Phox sat down beside me, and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "It's five in the morning, go to sleep. I'll stay with you until you fall asleep again, if that's alright with you."

"Don't go." I clung to his shirt, terrified of falling asleep. "What if the nightmares come back?"  
"I'll fight them off for you." I could feel him smiling.

"You can't fight off dreams." I mumbled, tired already, but feeling safer with Phox there. I knew I shouldn't, but I couldn't help it. I could forget my rules for a few hours.

"You never know..." Phox whispered. His voice was the last thing I heard before I fell asleep.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear." Mollie's voice woke me up. "If this is the way the Games are gonna go we're in big trouble."  
"Whaddyou mean?" I muttered. Beside me Phox cleared his throat. I froze, suddenly remembering everything that happened last night. The nightmare, waking up so so scared, and then Phox coming in and comforting me.

I don't think any one of us knew what to say, so we stood in silence until Mollie said, "Well, this is... never mind about that now, it's nearly 1 in the afternoon." Mollie threw a bunch of clothes at me, and they landed on my face.

"We slept all day?" Phox asked. I took the clothes off my head to see Mollie raising an eyebrow. She nodded, making her curls, which were put up in pigtails, shimmer and shake in coppery brown waves.

"And you're needed in the training arena waiting room. They've already started, and District 3 are showing the gamemakers their skills." Mollie pulled Phox off the bed and ushered him down the hall into his room. I groaned and put my head in my hands. In a few hours I would have to convince Django I was a useless Capitol teenager, but how could I do that when my mind was preoccupied with Phox and what happened last night.

It didn't mean anything. I was scared and all he did was comfort me. But that was something... I wasn't supposed to let anyone see my weaknesses, I wasn't allowed to show emotion. But Phox wouldn't kill me, would he?

My mind kept going over these thoughts over and over again while I got ready. I didn't even notice what I was doing,until I was down in the waiting room, where most of the tributes there looked at me like I was a meal. Ottilie and Thistle were sat together in a corner, whispering and giggling like they had known each other their whole lives. Roman was sitting against a blue wall, ignoring Mallory who was constantly pestering him and trying to get his attention.

At the Reaping, Mallory was sobbing, but she seemed all too happy to be a tribute now. I sat down away from everyone, with my back against the wall so I could see where everybody was at the same time. Tributes weren't allowed to be violent with each other, but I didn't trust any one of them. I waited five hours and 22 minutes in silence until finally Mallory from District 11 was gone. Phox still wasn't here yet.  
"Well, at least she's finally gone." Roman sighed.

"What, you don't like her?" I asked, figuring it was better to do something than sit silently contemplating my future death.  
"Not at all." Roman told me, shuffling closer. "The problem is, she likes me too much. She thinks she's in love with me."

"She thinks she's in love with you?" I couldn't help laughing.

"Yeah, and it's not funny!" He said, giving me a goodnatured shove. I was still laughing.  
"OK, you've got to explain this to me." I chuckled, trying to catch my breath.

"After we got to the suite, she turned off the waterworks and self-pity long enough to realise I was a guy, she was a girl, and we are soon to be dead, and some part of her brain thought, 'Hey, I'm going to fall for the closest guy within five metres of me'." Roman rolled his eyes. "And since I was the closest to her, she has now become obsessed with trying to show me how much she 'loves' me, and she's been trying to get me to love her back."

"Oh, what a shame. Somebody likes you, poor little Roman." I teased.  
"Roman Galloway, District 11." An electronic women's voice.  
"That was quick." I noted.

"Yeah, Mallory spends more time flirting than she does paying attention to what our mentors are teaching us." Roman sighed, standing up. "Good luck." He told me, just before he went through the doorway. I stood up to walk around the room, but stopped suddenly when I saw Phox.

"What were you doing?" He asked me. He looked... off.  
"Nothing." I said, confused.

"Why were you being so... friendly with him? He's soon going to become a killer." Phox stepped closer to me.  
"We all are, Phox." I said quietly. "I don't know what happened, we just started talking, OK? It meant nothing, I'm not friends with him, and we're not allied, nor will we ever be. Just leave me alone, got it?"

I went to sit in an opposite corner to Phox. I had to wait an hour until "Wren Fairbane, District 12." was called. I left Phox alone without a word.

Five metres above me in a viewing room protected by a force shield, most of the Gamemakers were tired, bored, drunk and completely ignorant I had just stepped into the room. All except one. The Head Gamemaker, Django Valentine, was leaning forwards intently. I was kind of relieved to see his eyes weren't actually blood red, but dark brown.

"Wren Fairbane, District 12." I presented myself. I looked nervously around the room. There were a few knives, a punching sack, paints, a bow and arrow a scathe, and two sharp disc-like things. A couple metres away from me, there were solid wood figures that looked like the outline of people. They had targets on their heads and stomachs. I picked up the bow and arrows, and readied myself to shoot. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Django watching my every move. The room smelled vaguely like shoe polish, I noted in the back of my mind. My shoes squeaked against the surface of the floor. The squeaking sound stood out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the room, which was silent.

I pulled the bowstring back until it was taut, just like Katniss taught me. I aimed, and let go. The arrow hit exactly where I was aiming- it hit the wall beside the targets head. I sighed and pretended to be frustrated. I let the bow drop to the ground and picked up some knives. I threw them towards the target, as hard as I could. Two of them struck to the side of the painted targets, but stuck in the wood, one of them bounced off and fell to the ground, and one more struck a few centimetres away from the centre. This was good- it would make Django think I was trying to get in the middle, but I just couldn't do it.

I was going to turn around and pick up another weapon, but a hand like steel stopped me. I turned my head, to see Django standing beside me. My heart skipped a beat- I hadn't noticed him slip out of the viewing room and come in here. His index finger was moving ever so slightly- He was spinning something on his finger.

"This weapon is called a _chakram_. It was an old weapon, not used for centuries but I've been feeling... nostalgic." Django's eyes glittered dangerously. "You see, I must be very careful when I release this, because if I release it at the wrong moment and it spins out of control I might just cut your pretty little head off."

I couldn't breathe. "It would be a real shame, but so much fun. I really shouldn't, but my finger just... might... slip." I jumped a little bit when Django released the chakram. It flew neatly through the air, slicing one of the wood figures right in half. The wood had to have been an inch thick- the chakram was just a few millimetres thick. I shuddered at the thought of what it might have done to me.  
"You're a monster." I told him through gritted teeth. Django tutted.

"Now, now. There's no need to be rude. Remember- I control what happens. And if you're not nice, I just might happen to press a button and something could happen to Phox..." Django trailed off dangerously.

_No! Don't_! I wanted to say. But that would be too dangerous. "Why should I care?" I forced myself to say. Django sighed.

"I know what you're trying to do. But if you stop fooling around and actually show me what you can do, I could play along and give you a bad mark just to take the heat off you." Django took me by the shoulders and turned me around so I was facing him. "All you had to do was show a little backbone and ask." He tilted my chin up so he was looking directly into my eyes. He then left suddenly to pick up the scythe, and then handed it to me. "Show me what you can do."

I took the scythe uncertainly in my hands, hating Django every second he stood next to me. He was pure evil. Django backed away to give me space. I put my second hand on the scythe, and tested out it's weight in my hand. I could manage it.

I mustered up all the strength I had left and spun the scythe around a bit, then threw it towards the figures. It sliced two of them in half. Django clapped slowly.

"Better." He said, pointing towards the weapons table. "Now do it again."


	9. May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favour

**I think you guys will like this chapter... it's full of surprises :)**

"Phox Naysmith, District 12" A voice on the television read out. "Score- 5."  
Phox nodded. "That's manageable."

"Wren Fairbane, District 12. Score- 12." My jaw fell. Everybody turned to face me.  
"What did you do?" Katniss cried out.

I suddenly turned very angry. "That lying, lowlife, cheating, decieving-"  
"What did Django do?" Mollie cut off my stream of insults before I got to the worst ones.

"He realised within, like, five minutes I was pretending to be completely useless, and he told me to stop pretending or else and he said he would give me a bad mark if I did everything as well as I could." I explained, waving my hands round a lot. I couldn't sit down anymore- whenever I was distressed my legs started bouncing up and down so much I had to start moving. If I didn't I would start biting my nails, or worse, I would start crying.

"Fine, so he lied." Mollie started to say. "This is... manageable- sort of. I mean, we'll figure it out an- Will you cut that out?!" Mollie yanked my arm to pull me back down onto the sofa.

"Sorry." I muttered, not sorry at all.

"You guys- shut up, Caesar's on the television again." Phox turned the volume on the television up.

"Well, I can say for sure none of us were expecting those results!" Caesar breathed, putting a hand to his chest as if he were breathless. "I hate to skip over all the other tributes, but I don't understand what happened with Wren Fairbane! Katniss and Peeta told us they didn't have much skill- could they really have magically transformed her into a brilliant fighter overnight, or were they lying?"

The audience whispered amongst themselves, and a few words stood out- "Wren", "Phox", "Lying", "Winner?", and "Weird".  
"Thankfully, Head Gamemaker Django Valentine is here for us, and he is ready for an interview." Caesar was saying, as Django came onto the stage. My heart skipped a beat when I saw his cold, ruthless expression.

"Thank you Caesar. I have an important announcement." Django began before Caesar even had a chance to speak. Django looked directly into the camera.

"The arena is ready ahead of schedule, and I want the Games to start as soon as possible- tomorrow."  
"Tomorrow?" Caesar exclaimed incredulously.

"I will give the mentors until midnight tonight to give me approval for their tributes to go into the Games tomorrow, and if they care at all about their tributes, they will say yes. If all the mentors don't give me their approval, the Games will start on schedule, in two weeks. But there is a catch- by then, the arena will be harder to live in, and your tributes will die painfully." Django finished. Caesarlooked flustered.  
"Tomorrow?! Bu- But they haven't had enough time to train!" He reasoned.

"You've seen the marks yourself, Caesar," Django said almost pityingly, as if Caesar weren't smart enough to see something that was obvious. "All of the tributes got a mark 5 or above- we've sent tributes into the field with less marks before, but this time at least they'll be better prepared. The way I see it, the sooner we start the Games, the sooner they'll be over."

Katniss turned the television off. "We have to do it." She said quietly. I knew she was right. I didn't say anything, but Katniss looked uncertain at my hesitation.

"You're right. It's better we go into the arena now with minimal training rather than later with more training and a twice as deadly arena." I assured her

"But the other mentors aren't going to be as convinced." Peeta said. "And I haven't had enough time to get as many sponsors as I would like."  
"Fine. I'll go convince the other mentors, you need to multi-task. Get sponsors and convince any mentors you find on the way." Katniss ordered.

"I'll go to the District refuge areas and call in some favours, talk to friends, get some sponsors." Mollie offered.  
"We need to finish the clothes for the arena." Makenna and Elijah said at the same time, standing up in synchronisation.  
"And we'll just..." Phox started, not sure what we were going to do.

"Stay calm. Eat, train. Do whatever you can." Peeta told us. Then everybody rushed out the door, leaving me and Phox alone.

"It's happening too fast, isn't it?" Phox murmered.

"It was fast before, it's faster now." I replied. "It still hasn't really hit me. But tomorrow, we could be dead."  
"Just run away from the Cornucopia. Peeta and Mollie will get us loads of sponsors, just grab what you can if it won't risk your life, but get the hell out of there, OK?" Phox told me.  
"Sure." I said uncertainly, not really certain why Phox was telling me what to do. "So... I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight." I changed the subject.  
"Me neither." Phox shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "I think I'm going to go get in some extra training, you?"  
"No, I'm going to stay here. Enjoy the last shower and proper meal I'll ever have." My hands were starting to tremble. I willed Phox to leave faster- I didn't want to cry in front of him.

"Are you sure?" Phox lingered at the door.

"Yeah. But you go, have...fun?" I said uncertainly. To my surprise, Phox laughed and then went to train. I was left on my own in the suite, which now seemed too quiet and empty. Before, if I was alone in a suite this big I would invite over my friends and party until 3am, complaining there wasn't enough space in the apartment. Now it seemed far too big.

"Come on, it's your last day in the Capitol, you're going to enjoy it." I whispered fiercely. I went to the kitchen- which was adjoined to the dining/living room- and to the long rectangular island in the middle.

There was a touch screen panel on the table, and I scanned through the instant menu list. I picked to have an eighth of everything that looked good- Katniss's favourite, lamb with dried plums, honeyglazed pork with roasted potatoes and gravy, turkey with cranberry sauce, duck with hoi sin sauce and little pancakes, salmon with lemon and then pink frothy soup with mint leaves floating in it. Then for dessert I had waffles with nutty chocolate sauce, triple chocolate decadence cake, rainbow ice, and my childhood favourite- frozen fruit lollipops. There was a different fruit flavour with each layer.

When I finished all these I was full, and wondering what to do next. Hot shower. My shower was wide, with water nozzles every placed every ten centimetres around the shower cabinet. The waterproof touchscreen panel opened up when I stepped into the shower, and I hit every possible option. Perfumed water hit me, and formed little bubbles on my skin that popped and exfoliated my skin, then coloured water sprayed me methodically, each colour with its different scent. Yellow was lemon, green was flowery field, blue was ocean breeze, black was something called 'midnight sky', which just smelled like black orchid perfume- a scent made by Cinna.

I stopped the perfumed water when it got to a white coloured spray- opal magnolia scented. I lathered my hair with flowery shampoo, but stopped when I realised- what was I doing? I was going to die soon and I was taking a shower? The cabinet made me feel claustrophobic, and the water now felt too hot. I quickly washed the suds out of my hair and wrapped a towel around me, then went back into my room.  
I needed to cool down, I was starting to feel dizzy. I took the most revealing clothes I could find- tank top that showed my bare arms and stomach, and shorts. Then I ran up to the roof. I breathed in relief when the blast of cold air hit me. I was starting to feel better- more free, less panicky, less claustrophobic.

"Are you... feeling allright?" A concerned voice asked me.

"Don't you have anywhere better to be, Roman?" I asked tiredly. I took a guess that it was Roman, and I was right. Or did I really know that he was going to be here?

"Nope. Mallory hates heights and she has nothing better to do rather than chase me." Roman sat down on the edge of the building, and tapped the stones, inviting me to sit next to him.

"If I were her I would be dyeing my hair. Bright pink isn't exactly the best camoflauge colour." I said sarcastically. To my surprise, Roman laughed, and for some reason I joined in.

"Are you feeling OK, though?" Roman asked me. I went over and sat down on the edge of the building, swinging my bare legs in the breeze.  
"Yeah, I mean... well, no." I admitted. "Why would I be OK? In a few days, or a few weeks, I'm going to be dead, dying, or being chased by people with knives who are hell-bent on killing me." I broke down into tears. Roman looked uncomfortable, like he didn't know what to do. He awkwardly put his arm around me and I didn't shrug it off, though I wanted to.

"How long have you been holding in your tears?" He asked. I looked up at him, confused. "My parents were shrinks, they rubbed off on me." He shrugged.

"I can't talk to you about this." I sniffed, using the back of my hand to rub away the tears. "I'm sorry, I just- I can't. Not when-"  
"I know." Roman interrupted softly. He looked at me. "You need to have fun. Just one last time before we die."

I looked at him nervously. "What do you mean?" Roman wiggled his eyebrows, grabbed my hand and then jumped off the edge of the building, pulling me with him. My screams followed me down until the District 11 floor, where we then hit the force shield and bounced back up to the roof. The electric shock from the shield ran over my body, but it wasn't painful, it just felt like an adrenaline rush. Orange sparks ran over my bare skin.

Beside me Roman was laughing, and it was infectious. "Where did you learn to do that?" I gasped.

"I was throwing rocks over the edge of the building, and they bounced back, so I wanted to try it." Roman explained. "Come on, time's a-ticking." And with that he picked me up in his arms and threw me over the edge of the building, then dived after me. The noise we made caught Mallory's attention- I saw a shock of pink hair and a horrified face in the District 11 Suite window, just for a moment before the shield threw me back up. I landed on my back, and it knocked the breath out of me but I didn't mind.

"I should go find a new hiding place." Roman said, almost reluctantly. I nodded and ducked my head.

"Sure. And, uh, thank you. But could you do me a favour and go back to being a jerk to me?" I asked. "It would just be easier."  
"Suit yourself." Roman nodded. He turned abruptly on his heel and jogged down the stairs.

"HEY! HELLO? IS ANYONE UP THERE?" A voice called from below. I looked over the side of the building, where Mallory was looking up. She was shouting so hard the veins on her neck were standing out. "HEY IS ROMAN UP THERE?"

I rolled my eyes. "NO." I yelled back.

"WELL THEN WHERE IS HE?" She sounded almost irritated, as if she had the right to know where he was and no-one else did. I quickly went through my mind for stuff I could say to annoy Mallory. I used to like her, but now she was just irritating.

"HE'S OFF BUYING AN ENGAGEMENT RING FOR YOU." I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing. That would annoy both of them. I could hear Mallory squeaking in excitement, but before she could say anything else, I went away from the edge and back down to the suite. Nobody, not even Phox was back. I couldn't believe she was so stupid she believed me.

I didn't know what to do now. It was only 10 at night. The score revealing and Django's interview started at 6 and took about a half hour. Eating and taking a shower took 3 and a half hours and apparantly I was on the roof for half an hour. It felt like minutes. Time flies when you're having fun. Which meant... I was actually having fun.. with Roman.

I was going to have to do a better job at sticking to my rules... I wandered around the whole suite alone for an hour. Mollie's room had the viewscreen set to a peaceful lake with a sunset dipping over the horizon. She must have missed District 4. I looked at her most viewed scenes list- the beach, the ocean, the lake with the sunset, fishermen with spears and tridents. I set it back to the lake as if nothing had been disturbed.

Just before I left, I saw a 3-part photo- the first was of Mollie with a fisherman with tanned skin and dark red hair- her husband? The second of a boy I recognised as Finnick Odair with his arm around Mollie. The third was of a dark haired girl with a baby. I felt something nagging at me in the back of my mind. Mollie... could her full name be Mollie Odair? It sounded all too possible that Mollie was Finnick Odair's mother. No wonder she wanted to be involved in the Games- she wanted to see revenge for what happened to her son.

I left Mollie's room and went next door to Makenna's. It was full of scraps of material, and another pictured frame of a younger version of Makenna with Portia and Cinna. She was their prodigée. Her furniture was decorated with homemade throws, sequined pillows, everything to show she was a stylist.

Elijah's room was much more simple, plain, with a few sketchbooks lying around. He had a whole book dedicated to me and my clothes, and one to Phox. Next I looked in Katniss and Peeta's room. Theirs was like Elijah's, with not a lot of personal posessions. It was obvious they were only staying in that room temporarily. The only personal posessions they had were photographs of them and their baby girl. Prudence Rose.

I didn't look at Phox's room- I was afraid of what was going to be in there. Pictures of dead relatives he loved and lost. People that I vaguely used to know as well. I finished looking around, and walked back to the living room like a zombie. I didn't even mean to fall asleep, but the next thing I knew Katniss was shaking my shoulder to wake me up.  
"Wren. Wren! Come on, it's nearly five in the morning. It's time to go." Katniss's face went in and out of focus as my eyes got used to the sudden brightness.

"What? No, it's too soon!" My heart pounded. Falling asleep was a mistake- I didn't have time to process what was going on. Katniss shot me a sympathetic look, then wrapped a blanket around me and took me to the roof, where a Hovercraft was waiting.  
"All the other Districts have gone already!" She had to shout over the loud whine of the hovercraft's engine. "I managed to convince all the mentors to agree to Django's terms."

I nodded numbly. The hovercraft ride took an hour, in which time Katniss kept giving me random facts of advice on how to stay me and Katniss were transported to one room, Phox and Peeta to another. There were clothes waiting for me on a hook in the room, and an ominous looking tube that would take me up the the arena.

A few minutes later, Elijah and Makenna arrived to help me with the smaller details of my clothes. Makenna's eyes were full of tears.  
"Good luck, Wren. I've loved working with you." Makenna hugged me.

"Be safe." Elijah told me simply, kissing the top of my head. Makenna and Elijah had to go help Phox, so they left. The last I saw of them was Makenna's flaming hair and Elijah's sad smile as he turned to see me one last time.  
Katniss sat me down and braided my hair the way she always does hers. "Do you have a token?" She asked me.  
"No." I said hoarsely. I was seconds away from the Games.

"Well it's a good job I had one made for you." Katniss finished my hair and turned me around to pin something on me. It was a dark silver bird with outstretched wings. "Halfway between a Mockingjay and a Wren." She told me.  
"Thank you." I wrapped my arms around myself.  
"60 seconds." A mechanical woman's voice told me.  
"When I agreed to be a mentor for the Games I came here already loathing you and Phox." Katniss told me quickly. "But that's changed. I realised I hate President Snow and his followers. Not you. You are kind. You are good. And I wish you good luck." And to my surprise she hugged me.  
"Thank you." I repeated. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry- for everything, everything that happened to you. No person should have to go through that."  
"30 seconds." The voice informed us. Katniss pulled me gently towards the tube, and hugged me again. Once I was inside, the platform sensed my weight and the doors closed. Just as the platform started to rise, Katniss put three fingers to her lips and then stretched her hand in my direction.  
I could hear my heart pounding inside my head. No, no, no, no, this can't be happening to me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry for what my people did to you, but please just stop it. But it was happening, and it wasn't stopping.

I was out in the open now. Phox was one platform over to my right, Roman on my left. The glittering gold Cornucopia lay twenty metres away from me. On the ground near me was a belt with a few knives in, a key, a bottle of water purifying pills and a food humidifier.  
I couldn't stop to pick up many things. I looked around at our surrounding and my mouth fell open in shock.  
"10...9...8...7..." A voice counted down. "...5...4...3...2...1. Let the Hunger Games begin."

**Please review and tell me what you think! x**


	10. Day 1- Killer

I was only frozen for a split-seconds before I was thrust into action. I leaped off my platform and grabbed everything I could- The belt and the water purifying pills were right next to each other, I put those in one hand and I was about to grab the water humidifier when I saw one of the 'Careers', Ajax Vamos, who was two platforms away from Phox, look at me with a smirk on his face. My heart pounded and I decided to leave with the belt and the pills.

Django was a really cruel man. The arena was the Capitol, but it was... different. It was like it had been abandoned and the forest that used to be neatly trimmed had grown wildly, inching towards the towering apartment buildings and carefully moulded marble fountains. He was making us die in our homes.

But this isn't your home, I reminded myself fiercely as I ran. I was lucky enough that my platform was in the middle of the forest and city- So I ran straight away from the Cornucopia and into the dense wilderness. Phox. I stopped suddenly, and turned to look behind me. I immediately wished I hadn't.

The Games had only started for a few minutes but the Cornucopia ground was already pooled with blood. To my relief I couldn't see Phox anywhere- on the floor or on his feet. But I could see Magnus Duncain running full speed towards me. I turned on my heel and sprinted across the springy forest underbed, not daring to look behind to see how close Magnus was to me. I didn't know him, but I knew he was a fifteen year old boy from the outskirts of the city, and his area was one of the last to be attacked.

I screamed as I tripped over a vine from a tree. My knives scattered over the floor, but at least my bottle of pills stayed closed. I could hear Magnus's pounding footsteps getting closer. I scrabbled for the closest knife, which unfortunately, wasn't the biggest one. I grabbed onto the blade and turned around, the blade pointing upwards just as Magnus reached me- except, he didn't really reach me. One of the vines suddenly came to life and wrapped itself around Magnus's ankle, dragging him backwards, but not before he dug his knife into my thigh. I sat up and watched Magnus with horror- the vines had spikes dripping with black ichor that looked like a scorpion mutt's poison. Now I understood why the forest was here- it was easy to hide in it, but it was easy to get killed. The forest was killing us too.

Magnus screamed in pain as the vine dragged him back and flung him towards the Cornucopia. I was close enough to hear the crack of his bones when he hit the shining gold surface. He fell to the ground, but he wasn't dead- he stood up again, a strange blankness in his eyes. His bones were all at odd angles, and he looked half-crazed with bloodlust as he used his hands to start clawing at the remaining tributes. I was so caught up in what was happening with Magnus I forgot about the knife, until I realised I was in pain. I had to get away from the Cornucopia. I gritted my teeth, bit my lip and took the handle of the knife.

Even the smallest movement made a low whine escape my lips. I gasped through the pain, and before my nmind could register what I was doing, I yanked the blade up. Even more blood spilled from my thigh- My pants were ripped, and soaked with the sticky red stuff. I didn't know what to do, Katniss hadn't told me what to do. I grabbed a bunch of leaves and stuffed them in the rip of my pants, hoping it would help, somehow. I then grabbed whatever knives I could find, put them in my belt and wrapped the belt around my leg like a tourniquet.  
I took the water purifying pill bottles and then focused back onto my leg. I used one of my knives to cut the vine that still held onto my ankle, and then stuck the blade into the bark of a tree, using it to help me stand up. The horrible screaming noises behind stopped, and what happened next made me freeze in terror. It was unmistakably Raff's voice saying, "Come on! Let's go, everybody else has escaped."

Panic shook through me like waves. I hobbled as quickly as I could to the next tree, then the next, then the next, groans escaping my lips every couple of steps. After a while, I realised that Raff and his gang weren't following me, and they had gone in a different direction so I slowed down, but I still kept moving. I could imagine Katniss and Peeta watching me on the mentor monitor, muttering advice, hoping I would realise what to do. It was getting dark, I needed to find somewhere to rest and tend to my wound. It was right at the beginning of the Games, I probably didn't have any sponsor money and I was already injured and leaking blood.

Goddamnit, I sighed. And I actually thought I had a chance to survive at least the first day.

I found a cluster of three trees that had grown together, standing over ten metres tall. I looked up at the tree, considering which way up would be the easiest for me. I put my water purifying pills in my coat pocket, then started to climb as well as I could. My right leg was starting to feel numb. I reached up with my arms and pulled myself up, then pushed up with my left leg. I did this over and over again until I was halfway up the tall tree. I could see clearly all around me and below me.

I sat down on a thick branch that didn't even tremble under my weight and started focusing on my leg. My trousers, which used to be a dark olive green, were now stained dark reddish brown and crusted with dried blood. I took off the belt and used the tip of a dull knife to remove the crusty blood from my trousers. I winced when I accidentally touched the cut.  
The cut was quite deep, and I think it was a bit infected. But there was nothing I could do. Not until I got a sponsor present anyway. Unless... there was no chance Katniss and Peeta wouldn't give me a gift because I had the answer right in front of me? I looked around, but I couldn't see anything.

"Any hints? Clues? Signs?" I whispered to the air around me. "How about a gift? Please?"

I waited for a moment, half expecting something to happen but nothing did. I sighed under my breath. Underneath me, a twig snapped. I froze instantly, and looked underneath the tree. A dark, lone, shadow was walking around. A dark shadow that had a bulge on its back- a backpack. I allowed myself a small smile, and very silently pushed myself into a crouching position, with my infected right leg dangling over the edge of the branch. I waited in the silence until the figure settled down for the night, right near me.

I nearly fell out the tree when I heard cannonfire. One, two, three, four.. I reminded myself to count. I needed to keep track of who died. Seven, eight, nine.  
Nine people died in one day. Just as soon as the last cannonfire was shot, the Panem anthem started playing. My eyes turned upwards towards the sky, where holograms of the dead showed up. Validia Kelder, District 1. Leonis Keene, District 4, was also killed. He was supposed to be with the Careers, I wonder what happened. Silver Selkirk and Baron Skrim, District 5. I wondered if they killed each other. Septimus Erdvine, District 7. Merope Herriot, District 8.  
Magnus Duncain, District 9, must've died either from the mutt poison or somebody else killed him. Nim Ardlace was also District 9- I looked at her 13 year old face, which was far too serious for someone her age, and thought about her older sister- Noelle Ardlace. She was 19, and too old to be in the Reaping. I wonder what she was thinking now. Finally, Grodin Baye, District 10.  
I found that to my relief, Phox's face didn't show up. Neither did Roman's, which wasn't that surprising. He was strong, fast and smart, unlike Mallory, who was silly and girly and fainted at the sight of blood. She would have been an easy target, though it seemed she managed to escape the Cornucopia killing spree.

Surprisingly, it seemed Thistle and Ottilie had managed to escape the bloodbath. That left fifteen people. I wondered who was the person sitting below me, leaning against the tree, ready to go to sleep. I listened to the person's breathing, waiting until they became slow steady, meaning they were asleep. When I was sure whoever was below me was sleeping, I tied my belt around my waist and then crept down as silently as I could, until I was hanging off a branch just above their head. The person was sleeping with a thin blanket covering them, a gun in their hand. Their backpack was a dark green colour, and it looked full to the brim with things.

Should I take it all, or just what I need? I asked. I lowered myself onto the mossy ground I gingerly lifted the strap of the bag up.  
"Whose there?" The voice was female, and definitely awake. I panicked and ran away, the adrenaline drowning the pain in my thigh. I felt bad for robbing the girl- whoever she was- of the stuff she risked her life for, but I would rather steal then get killed. I stopped when the adrenaline wore off and the pain in my thigh returned. I found another tree- not as big or as good as the first one, but it would do. I found the thickest branch I could- which was about two feet wide- and put the backpack down on it. My eyes adjusted to the dark and I took everything out of the backpack and looked at what I had.

Waterproof, heat reflecting coat that folded out into a blanket with sleeves, rope, a firestarter, a water bottle full of water, a couple of dehydrated food packets and a food hydrator, a small spraying bottle with liquid in it, a flashlight and something stuffed at the bottom of the bag, but I couldn't tell what it was. I packed everything back into the bag except the squeezy tube. I held up the firestarter close to the spray to read what it read. Wound healer with skin regrow.

I quickly turned off the firestarter off, impatiently packed everything but the spray bottle and water bottle into the bag and then turned my attention towards my leg. I poured a little of my precious water onto my leg to unstick the blood. I used my fingers to pry apart the stiff material on my thigh, revealing a two inch cut that had greenish looking stuff around it. I sprayed the wound healer onto my cut. I winced and hissed in pain when the spray hit my leg. It felt like burning- the spray was burning the infection to kill the bacteria, and it hurt so much I gripped the branch so hard my knuckles turned white.

Thankfully, the burning was quickly replaced by blissful cool as the spray started reforming my flesh. I looked down to see the spray had also burned off the blood without damaging my clothes. My newly formed flesh was baby pink, and it looked almost pale white against my tanned skin. I took long gulps from the water and then reput everything into my backpack, ready to sleep. It would be a while before I reached the City to find a place to sleep, so I would have to stay in the killer forest.

I didn't mind much, though- The pain was finally gone, and without it to keep me awake, I suddenly felt really tired. I took the rope out of the bag, and tied it three times around the tree trunk and myself, used my bag as a pillow and settled down for the night. Elijah and Makenna had made my clothes well- leather knee high boots with fur on the inside and a grippy sole, cotton shirt with long sleeves and fingerless leather gloves, then dark olive trousers, and long leather coat with fur on the inside.

I was snugly warm, though I suspected if none of us died from the cold soon enough, Django would turn the arena thermostat down until it reached -27, the coldest Capitol winter in fifty years. I fell asleep within minutes, quicker than I expected.  
And just before I fell asleep, when I was half awake, I thought I saw a group of people walking around, even though it was really late. They had fire torches held high above their heads, and they kept looking around, looking for something.  
But I was too sleepy to be frightened by a dream, so I just slept on...


	11. Day 2- Worst Luck Ever

**Hey guys, just letting you know that I've decided to put a poem-y thing at the start of each chapter from now on as a hint of what will happen in the chapter, or just something that describes Wren's life. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Never found,****never found **

**Though you wander on and o****n **

**You'll never be found **

**They can see you now **

**They're trapped here, to****o**

** They smell you now **

**And there's nothing you can do**

** Lost in darkness **

**Burning ashes falling from the sky**

** This eternal darkness**

** In this town, there's nowhere you can hide**

** Never again to be found**

** - Silent Hill**  
I was woken up in the morning by cannonfire, followed by loud and triumphant whoops- some distance away but definitely closer.

"I can't believe how easy that was!" A male voice exclaimed. I sat up- or, at least, I tried, but the rope held me down. I quickly felt my way around the knot, and pulled on the end of the rope to undo it. I unwrapped the rope, held it in my hand then pushed myself into a crouching position, pulling one of the bag straps halfway up my arm, just in case I had to get away quickly.

"Yeah, and I could have sworn she had some stuff from the Cornucopia..." Another voice who I recognised as Delphi Holloway's chimed in. "What was her name, anyway?"

"Hestia. Her name was Hestia." The people who were speaking now came into view. The first person who spoke wass Ajax Vamos, one of Raff's 'Career' friends. "She was in my District." Xanther Winnow said with a hollow-sounding voice. Raff turned around and pushed on his shoulder to stop him.

"You are still with us, right Winnow?" Raff said almost threateningly. I couldn't see Xanther's face, but his body was tense and on edge.  
"Yeah. Just a little bit shocked. I'll get over it." Xanther's voice was forceful, detirmined to stay on Raff's good side.  
"Well, hello. What do we have here?" Raff looked over Xanther's shoulder, towards the direction of my tree. I froze, until another figure walked out into the open. I didn't recognise who it was.

"I want to join you." The girl's voice said clearly. Delphi Holloway cocked her head.  
"Why? Don't you already have another alliance?" Delphi asked sharply.

"I was supposed to, but since you killed Validia, my options are pretty limited." The girl answered coolly, not backing down. The only person who was supposed to be allied with Validia was Katri Allardyce- Leonis Keene's cousin.

"Well, coincidentally, spaces in our alliance are pretty limited too." Delphi's voice was venomous. Raff held up a hand to stop Delphi.

"Wait a minute. I think we can make an exception for Katri." Raff stepped closer. "And I'm sorry about what happened to Leonis." Raff rubbed his hands up and down Katri's bare arms to warm her up.

"It wasn't your fault. It was Magnus's fault. Thank you for getting rid of him." Katri spoke in a low voice but I was close enough to hear her.  
"No problem. It's good to have you back." Raff said, just before he stuck his tongue down Katri's throat. I turned away in disgust, not before seeing Delphi's look of fury.

I guessed that Katri and Raff used to know eachother -really well- before the Games, and now Delphi was jealous of stealing Raff's attention from her. This could get dangerous.

"What happened to your jacket?" Raff asked Katri. I turned back to see Katri shrug.  
"Magnus clawed at it and ruined it, so I had to take it off." Katri explained.

"Does anyone have a spare jacket?" Raff asked his group, not taking his eyes off Katri. Everybody else turned to Delphi, who reluctantly took a jacket out of her bag and handed it to Raff. Raff helped Katri into it, and took her bag so it wouldn't weigh her down.

"Speaking of Magnus, we need to get out of the forest. I saw what happened to him- he was going after that Wren girl when the forest, attacked him or something. It's not safe here, we need to go." Raff motioned for everybody to head towards the City. "And if anybody sees Wren, tell me. I don't know how she got a 12, but we should keep an eye out for her."  
"So you think she's going to be in the City?" Ajax asked.

"No, Katniss and Peeta's arena was the woods, they wouldn't know how to train her to survive in a city environment. She'll stay in the woods for sure, but if she does, we won't have to kill her, the forest will." Raff explained, walking towards the City. "I don't care about killing her as much as I care about staying alive, so..."

And then Raff walked away too far so I couldn't hear what the so was. I knew what I had to do now. If Raff thought I was going to stay in the forest, that was exactly what I couldn't do. He may be wary of the forest, but that wouldn't stop him coming to look for me.

I double checked everything I had in my bag. Last night I couldn't figure out what the thing at the bottom of my bag was, but when I took it out, I couldn't believe my luck. Poor Hestia, she must have gotten really close to the Cornucopia for this bag. At the bottom was a fold out hoverboard. It was the Capitol Hover XS (Xtra Speed), and it wasn't the 3rd edition, which was the best, but it was still really good. It charged with sunlight and excess energy- meaning, the more you used it, the more it charged.

I felt better than I had felt in days. Of course, the hoverboard only worked in the City, but that was exactly where I was headed, so it all worked out for the best. Now I needed supplies. I only had eight packets of dehydrated food, it wouldn't last me long. I found some bendy twigs and set them up in four different places, the way that I was taught to do at training. Hopefully the snares would work and I would get to my catches before anybody else.

I left my snares and silently found my way out off the forest and towards the City, making sure I didn't cross paths with the Careers. Before I got into the City, I walked close to the Cornucopia, and I nearly threw up.

The ground was still covered in blood and the stench was almost too much to bear. I gagged as I ran away from the poolful of dried blood and towards the City. As soon as I stepped into the City perimiter I took out my hoverboard, stretched it to full size and stepped onto it. I hadn't been on one of these in years, but it was like riding a bike. Once you learn, you can't unlearn it.

I flew silently in and out of buildings, with a feeling that everything was _wrong, wrong, wrong_. It was too quiet, too empty, and too... off. I was in Parade Square, where the main parties were held, the really big ones like the Hunger Games party, and the Winter Solstice Snow Festival. I was turning the corner of Parade Square into Celebration Avenue, when I saw Raff and his gang. I gasped and turned back so sharply I nearly fell off the board. I didn't think he saw me, but I didn't want to risk it. If he got close enough, he would be able to hear the hum of the hoverboard's motor. I stepped off the board and started walking towards the forest line.

A few seconds after I did, music started blaring from invisible speakers. I dropped my hoverboard- though thankfully it hovered instead of hitting the ground- and covered my ears with my hands. It didn't block out the noise. I stepped back onto the hoverboard and as soon as I did the parade music stopped.  
I could hear rapid footsteps running towards me, and Raff shouting. I steered the hoverboard so that it went towards the forest, and as soon as I got the the edge of the wildlife, I jumped off the hoverboard, grabbed it close to my side and ran for my life. I dissapeared into the the forest and hid behind a tree until I could figure out where to go next. I peeked over the side of the tree to see Raff get stopped at the treeline by Katri and Ajax.

"Stop! It's too dangerous!" Ajax held out a hand to stop Raff. Raff kept on pushing forward.

"Raff, he's right, she's not worth it!" Katri reasoned, pulling Raff backwards by his shirt. Raff seemed to listen to Katri, something that Delphi didn't look too pleased to see. The Careers backed away slowly, and I exhaled. I walked back towards the heart of the forest, promising myself to me more careful. I had had one too many run-ins with other Tributes than I would have liked.

"No! I'm part of this alliance too and I say we stay here!" A high-pitched girl's voice was arguing. I sighed silently- nothing seemed to be going my way. I quickly climbed three branches of a tree to see Otillie and Thistle.

"Well, I know the City outline better than the forest one, so I say we go towards the City!" Otillie argued. "Besides, I don't want to be turned into a brainless, killing machine by plants!"

"Look, I know the City outline too, but it's easier to hide in a crowded forest than wide-spaced streets and locked buildings!" Thistle reasoned.  
"We don't know that all of them are locked, we just need a key to open the ones that are locked!" Ottilie grumbled. Thistle sighed.

"Look, Ottilie, I know we've only been in the Games for one day, but if this alliance isn't going to work, we might as well just quit it now." Thistle told Ottilie.

"What?" Ottilie looked surprised and hurt. Thistle carried on talking.

"And eventually you're going to become my enemy, so..."  
"So? What? I'm not going to hurt you." Ottilie exclaimed, panic rising in her voice. I sighed and rolled my eyes. Normally, I would understand Ottilie's panic, but she was just scared of becoming alone and hated again, and besides, the worst little Thistle would be capable of doing is kicking Ottilie's shin, pulling her hair, and running away.

Or at least, that's what I thought, until Thistle pulled out a knife stabbed Ottilie in the stomach. Otillie doubled over with a groan, and a few moments later collapsed on the ground in a limp pile. I slammed my hands over my mout to stop myself from making any noise.  
I held my breath while Thistle stood over Ottilie, her face showing no remorse. A few minutes passed until the cannon shot so suddenly I lost my balance and fellout the tree. I dropped down, branch by branch, being hit in the stomach and scratched by branches all the way. I hit the ground with an oomph, the fall knocking the breath out of me. Thistle obviously heard the commotion I caused and started advancing towards me. I rolled onto my back, reaching for one of my knives, but Thistle held my hand down with the tip of her boot.

I didn't say anything, though I tried to struggle. For her size and age, Thistle was not weak. She was strong. She was a killer. And she had the upper hand.

Thistle looked at the knife in her hand, then at me. Then the blade shot forward.

**I know that some of you guys wanted Wren to be the one to kill Ottilie and I'm sorry to dissapoint you, but in my mind it was always Thistle who pulled a 'Johanna Mason' and turned out to be a killer, not a snivelling weakling. Hope you enjoyed it, and please review!**


	12. Nasty Old Mutt

**Mama, Mama, help me get home**  
**I'm out in the woods, I am out on my own**  
**I found me a werewolf, a nasty old Mutt.**  
**It showed me its teeth and went straight for my gut**  
**- A Child's Walk Home**

Thistle looked at the knife in her hand, then at me. Then the blade shot forward. But it wasn't Thistle's blade that shot forward. Thistle crumpled in a pile on the floor and I looked behind me. A very familliar stood clothed in black with a knife in her hand.

"Katniss?!" I exclaimed. "What's going on?" I stood up quickly. Katniss ran forward.

"You're welcome." Katniss rolled her eyes. "Now come on, I managed to buy my way into the Games, but only for a short time, now come with me." She started pulling me away from Thistle just as the cannon shot and announced her death. I heard the distant hum of a hovercraft coming to take the body away.  
"What? Why?!" I exclaimed, following her, half jogging to keep up with her face.

"Because Thistle was going to kill you. And there are other things in this forest I need to you watch out for, especially-" Katniss broke into a fit of snarly coughs.

"Are you alright?" I asked worriedly, even though Katniss waved me away flippantly.

"I'm fine." She said. "Come on, we have to keep moving." Katniss yanked on my hand.  
"Ow!" I drew my hand back- Katniss's nails had cut into me.

"Sorry." Katniss said, almost like an afterthought.  
"It's fine." I muttered. "Where are we going?"

"There's a tribute nearby who might kill you. I'm leading you away from him." Katniss told me. I raised an eyebrow.

"You did all this just to lead me away from a tribute?" I asked skeptically. "Why not just let me deal with him on my own?"

"Because..." Katniss trailed off.

"Because?" I pressed. Then I stuttered. "Katniss, what happened to your eyes?"

"My eyes?" She repeated, stopping dead. I walked around until I was in front of her.  
"Yeah. Your eyes. They're really weird and... big." I said, confused.

Katniss had a weird look on her face. "All the better to see you with, my dear." She snarled, looking up so I could see her clearly. She pulled her lips away from her teeth, revealing sharpened fangs like a wolf. Her eyes were huge and yellow and showed no whites. Her nails thickened and sharpened into claws.  
I backed away from her. "You're not Katniss. You're a muttation." I breathed, stating the obvious.

"Well done." Not-Katniss said sarcastically. She was morphing into a wolf more and more by the minute. "Eight points for intelligence. No, six points, it took you long enough."

"Why did you save me from Thistle?" I asked hoarsely, backing away from Katniss. She didn't even take a step towards me, but as a wolf she would be able to reach me in two bounds.

"It is so much sweeter to see a tribute struggle for their life, and so much better when they die a painful death." Katniss cocked her head to the side, and her body started ripling into a wolf. I took in a deep breath.

"Not if I do something about it." I reached for a knife at my belt, and threw it at her. Katniss morphed into a wolf (one with dark hair and grey eyes, and looked a lot like Katniss), and ducked. I reached for another knife but the wolf bounded up to me, snapping its jaws and trying to get my my stomach or neck, somewhere that could cause a lot of damage. I had to use both hands to keep the wolf at arms length away from me, although it's razor sharp teeth were dangrously close to my body.

I couldn't help the sobs and shriek of panic escape from my mouth. I needed to get another knife and stab it. I bought my foot up and kicked at the wolf's stomach- she whined and backed away for a moment, but long enough for me to reach for long bade. When the wolf came back snapping from my neck, I managed to stab it in the stomach. My first kill and it was a wolf.

The wolf whined in pain, a low mournful sound, and I almost felt pity before the wolf's body was etched in graphic construction marks and I remembered it was just a mutt that Django had built.

Movement flickered at the corner of my eye, and before thinking I grabbed the knife out of the dead wolf and threw it towards the moving thing. A choked voice gasped and groaned in pain and I ran forward when I realised who I threw the knife at.

"Phox." I gasped. "Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod." I ran towards Phox. His knees gave out and I caught him.

"It's fine- it- it just grazed my side." Phox said, though his voice was strained.

"That did not just graze your side!" I gasped, looking at the blood. I put Phox's hands around the edge of the knife. "Put pressure on it." I ordered. Phox nodded, and I pulled the knife out quickly. Blood spilled between the gaps of his fingers.

I pulled up my top to show the top I had underneath. I ripped part of it off and used it to soak up the blood.

"I can't stop the bleeding!" My hands were shaking.

"Wren, there's a shed ah, not too far away. Either you leave me here or you take me there." gasped Phox. He was looking sickly pale.

"I'm not leaving you." I said fiercely. I wrapped my arms under his arms and started dragging him towards the shed, which was apparantly about twenty metres behind us. Phox's weight was almost too much for me, and he was becoming more and more limp by the second. I strained and strained until I pulled him to the door of the shed. I was exhausted and my muscles were trembling with exhaustion. "Where's the key?" I asked.

"Up that tree in an abandoned tracker jacker nest." Phox whispered, pointing weakly towards a tall mahogany tree.

"Fine. I'll be right back." I surveyed the tree, figuring out the best way to climb up it. I went as fast as I could, though it felt like hours. All the while I was thinking, Phox is down there and he's dying because of me. I felt awful, and I didn't like it.

I got to the tracker jacker nest and I couldn't help but be cautious as I peered inside, but the only glint of gold was from the shed key. I climbed back down quickly, too quickly. On the last branch I slipped and fell to the ground with a thud, but Phox looked almost dead so I shrugged the pain off and limped towards the door. I fumbled with the key and sighed in relief when the door gave way.

I dragged Phox inside and immediately locked the door after me. There were a few candles but there was a light switch. Next to it was a panel that said Energy with a little sun symbol next to it- there was over half left, which was good. The whole shed must run on solar power.

"Phox, I need to stitcch you up. Are there any medical kits, bandages or material, maybe a needle and thread?" I asked. Phox gave me no reply.

I remembered my wound healer spray with the wound regrow. I yanked open the zip to my bag- which was thankfully unharmed- and took the spray out. My eye caught over the line, Do not spray more than 10 times per 6 hours.

I took Phox's limp hands off the bloody bandage and lifted his shirt up so I could see the wound better. I sprayed three times. Phox muttered in pain even in his unconcious state, but thankfully the blood went away and a thin membrane formed over the cut. I sprayed another three times which would leave me another four sprays until I reached the maximum limit. With Phox safe- however temporarily- I left him and got to work.

The cabin's harsh silver colours, it stood out too much against the neutral browns and greens of the forest. There was a hollow and soggy log nearby, I kicked it until it snapped in half and filled both halves with earth and mud. I used some of my water to make the earth and mudd soggy, and then scraped it onto the sides of the shed until it was all earthy brown. I took the unused mud and threw it onto the roof, and while the mud was drying I took any twigs I could find and stuck them to the side, then threw branches on top.

It wasn't the best, but it was better than before. I went back into the shed, covered Phox with a blanket, and looked around for some containers. There were a few, and I stuffed them all in my bag. I headed outside- noting that I had to be quick because it was already getting dark. I orientated myself by going back the way I came, back to where the wolf's blood was still there, though its body had dissapeared. I picked up any of the knives I left that I could find, and traced my steps back to my traps, where only three out of the four had caught something- a rabbit, a wild turkey and a small boar- but it was better than what I had hoped for and I was thrilled.

I almost threw up when I had to kill them, but I put them in the containers and promised myself I would skin them and cook them later. I held the containers at arms length and moved onto picking fruit. I wasn't having much luck until I found some small dark berries.

I eagerly started picking at them by the handfuls, until a small parachute came and knocked the container over, spilling everything out onto the floor. I sighed, but opened the parachute enthusiastically.  
The mentors note attatched to it said, That's nightlock, it's poisonous. Stay away!

I looked around and nodded, hoping Katniss and Peeta could still see me, but I figured they might come in handy later, so I put a few of them in a container, sealed it tightly, and then opened the rest of the parachute. It was box of berries, and a colour coded key list.

Pink, red and blue berries were normal for eating, yellow ones had morphling to ease pain, and green ones were to wake you up. It must have cost a lot, and I was grateful to my mentors. I closed the parachute carefully and put all the berries away in my bag.

I quickly started heading back towards the shed, hoping Phox was still alive, and that I would get there before everything turned pitch black. It was almost completely dark when I got back to the cabin, and the light from inside shined out illuminating the woods.

Wait. I froze, and got out my knives, then let my bag drop to the floor. Dread and realisation hit me.

I had forgotten to lock the shed door.

**Please remember to tell me whatcha think in the reviews! Anything that you guys particularly want to happen- Any plot twists, romances, alliances?**


	13. Promise to Keep

**These woods are lovely, dark and deep**  
**But I have promises to keep**  
**And miles to go before I sleep**  
**And miles to go before I sleep**  
**-Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening**

"Phox!" I yelled, running forwards, pushing the door open. Phox was lying on the ground, in a pool of blood. "Oh God, oh God, oh God!"  
I dropped to my knees, ignoring the sticky pool of cold blood that drenched my trousers. My fingers reached for his neck, trying to find a pulse, but my heart was racing so fast I couldn't tell if the pulse I felt was my own or his. I decided to try a different method.  
"Come on, wake up, oh God, please wake up!" I tried not to scream but the panic was too much. I slapped Phox's face, trying to get him to respond. He didn't do anything. "Oh, God, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" I sobbed.

Phox's eyes flickered open. I stopped short and held my breath. "Phox?" I didn't dare get my hopes up. Phox's eye's dilated and focused onto my face. He was half alive- barely.

Phox opened his mouth to speak, but only managed to groan in pain. "I'll be back, OK? I'll be right back!" I assured him, then ran outside to get my bag, parachute and containers with the food.

I ripped open the zip and took out the parachute. Yellow berries for morphling. I didn't know how many to give him, so I took out a bunch and decided to take it one at a time. I put one onto his tongue, trying to talk him into chewing. He just looked at my limply, but I felt better when I realised the berry was dissolving, leaving a fizzy yellow froth on his tongue. I used two fingers to gently close his mouth, hoping he would swallow. Agonizing seconds went by until Phox sighed, and his eyes looked more alive.

"Do you need another one?" I asked. Phox's gave me a small nod and I put another berry on his tongue. He looked relieved after he swallowed the second berry.

"What happened?" I asked him, using my hands to tilt his face up so he was looking at me.  
"P-Pe...Peeta." Phox could barely speak.

"Peeta? What do you mean Peeta?" I searched his face for signs of pain, recognition- anything.  
"Pe-Peeta said h-he would h-he...help." Phox gasped. The morphling helped, but he was still weak and still uncomfortable and in pain.  
"Help? How?" I frowned.

"I d-don't know but h-he he-helped me up," Phox swallowed, "Then he..." He trailed off, but his eyes looked towards his side. I lifted his shirt to see a six-inch long gash stretching from his lower abdomen to his leg. There was too much blood to see how deep the cut was, but judging from the ammount of blood, it had to have been fairly deep.

I startled when thunder rumbled over head. Phox looked upwards towards the ceiling of the shed. "S-storm?" He asked worriedly.  
"Wait here." I told him, and poked my head outside.

Even in the darkness, I could see dark black storm clouds overhead, looking ominous especially when the moonlight lit them from behind and gave them an eerie glow. Lightning forked across the sky and I remembered something Katniss told me, and I started counting. _One...two...three...four...five...six...seven_. And then thunder rumbled.

Katniss told me on the hovercraft- "Count the seconds between a lightning strike and thunder, that'll tell you how many miles away the storm is." So the storm was seven miles away. I turned back to Phox.  
"Come on, we need to go." I sprayed Phox's wound four times- though it didn't seal it up completely- and put everything back into my bag, and lifted Phox up, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"Where we going?" Phox asked. He sounded better. "Maybe we should stay here- I think the doors keep us safe from the rain?"  
"No it's going to be worse than a few inches of rain, we need to go. Come on, I'll explain everything on the way." I turned around, locked the door behind me, and shoved the key into my pocket. "It wasn't Peeta, it was a muttation. Django is making muttations that we think we can trust, but they just stab us in the back. And remember what happens whenever there's a storm in the Capitol?" I urged Phox to remember.

Because the Capitol was tucked away with mountains on all sides, I couldn't count the number of times the weather man - Fulga Flynnigan, an eccentric man with a bald head and wacky ties- had explained the air pressure between the mountains meant that storms were likely to happen. And when storms did happen they caused havoc- so much so that the Capitol built the city on a platform that would rise twelve feet above the ground to prevent flooding.

"The City will rise..." Phox realised. "Leave me, I'm too slow. Hurry or you'll drown."

I stopped short and looked at him. "What are you saying? Are you totally insane? I made a promise to you." I said fiercely. "I said I wouldn't leave you, and I'm not going to go back on my promise now. It's my fault you're in this situation." I started walking quicker now. Lightning struck, and four seconds later thunder rumbled. The storm was getting closer, and it was moving quickly.

I panicked- when the storm got within a mile of the City, the platform would start to rise. It takes three minutes for the platform to rise fully- but what if Django wouldn't let that happen? It was his arena, after all, not the actual Capitol. Maybe he was just trying to get everybody to the City just to watch us drown.  
But that wouldn't- couldn't- happen, could it? Because that would be a lousy Game, one that only lasted two days before everybody was wiped out by a storm. Hopefully, Django would care more about the Games than killing everybody.  
"Maybe they've forgotten..." Phox murmered.

"What?" I asked.

"The Gamemakers." Phox cleared his throat to speak louder over the noise of the storm. "They haven't shown whose died today, and it's really late."

"You're right, they haven't shown whose died..." I glanced up at the skies. Sure, even if they did, the hologram would be concealed by the clouds, but surely they could move the clouds to make room for the hologram. "Unless... what if they haven't shown them yet because they're expecting more of us to die..."

"That's why the storm's happening. We all know that the City is the only refuge we have, and right now we're all staying away from eachother. So they're going to get us in the same place at the same time. " Phox realised. Lightning struck. One...two. Thunder.  
"We need to hurry." I said. We were just reaching the City perimiter.

"Are you sure about this? We could just go back to the shed?" Phox suggested. We were about ten metres away from the City edge when it started rising.

"It's now or never." I told Phox. He glanced towards me, then the City, then back to me.

"Let's go- quickly." He told me, and started to hobble towards the City. The full height of the platform is 12 feet in three minutes- that's four feet a minute. One foot every fifteen seconds. The platform was already 3 feet and rising. "Come on!" I urged, helping Phox onto the platform just as rain started to pour from the sky in bucketfuls. I hoisted myself up, onto the slippery City floor while the ground below me fell away. The city may have been draining the rainwater onto the ground below, but it was still covered in a centimetre thick layer of rainwater. Rainwater that was red with blood. I crouched over Phox- who was barely concious.

"Phox?" I asked nervously. Phox groaned in response. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Wounds...open." He said in a pained whisper. I looked at him- he was right. With every raindrop his wounds were opening up more and more they were opening up. I don't know how it was possible, but then again, most things that happened in the Game Room would normally seem impossible, but they were made into reality.

"Oh, God, I need to get you out of here." I said through gritted teeth, narrowing my eyes in detirmination. I stood up to get a better grip on him , exposing my legs. When raindrops landed on my thigh, the gash reopened. My legs gave way from the shock of the sudden pain.  
_It's only going to get worse the more you stay_, I told myself, not knowing if I was even telling the truth. I forced myself to get up, leg trembling from the pain. It felt like every step I took was ripping the wound apart more and more. I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted blood.

I wrapped my arms under Phox's armpits and started tugging him away from the edge of the platform and towards a building of apartments. Ottilie and Thistle said they were locked, but I had to try some of them out. The closest building was a museum dedicated to the Hunger Games, from the first one right down to the 75th- the 76th hadn't been added yet. The doors were locked, but the windows had to be breakable. I took off my bag and flung it at the window, over and over. It was no use- the bag was too soft to break the glass.

And Phox was losing too much blood- there was a giant puddle of rainwater around him that was coppery red with blood. I used my numb fingers to unzip the bag and take out the metal parachute. Please, please, please work, I begged silently, running out of hope. The metal of the canister attatched to the parachute should have been unbreakable, but when I smashed it against the window it didn't do anything- in fact, the canister was dented, the window wasn't even scratched.

The cold reached my bones and I was so tired and so cold and numb but in pain at the same time, and I too full of emotion that I couldn't show because if I did I would be weak, and I would die. I guess making rules didn't help at all. I was emotional, and I was weak.  
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Phox, but I can't get in. And I can't get you somewhere else." I cried. I couldn't tell if the droplets on my face were raindrops or tears.

"N-not y-yo..your f-f-fault, Wren." Phox said weakly. He then mumbled something that I didn't understand.  
"What?" I asked him gently.

"Pain. Make it stop." His voice was unmistakably clear.

"I can't, Phox." I whispered, but as soon as I said the words I realised I was lying. I looked at the canister. When I opened it, I could see there were five morphling berries left. I looked them out, but as the raindrops hit them, they dissolved and washed away. "No! No!" I cried, even though crying wasn't going to bring back the berries.

Phox looked at me, gasping for breath because of the pain. He was looking at me... or, something on me. I followed his line of sight to realise he was looking at the knives on my belt.

"No! I'm sorry, Phox, but I can't! I can't kill you, we've known each other since we were little, please, don't make me!" I sobbed.

Phox looked into my eyes. "Please." I covered my mouth with my hand to stifle sobs, but it didn't work. Phox tried one last attempt to sway me. "I lied. I lied when I said I didn't remember anything about the night of the ball. I remember everything."  
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked softly.

"I don't know." Phox admitted. "But you said we would be partners, that we would trust eachother and listen to advice." I didn't remember this, but it sounded familliar. "Now I'm asking you, please make the pain stop." His voice was unwavering. He was certain of what he was saying, but he was begging me.

"Fine." I whispered hoarsely. "I'm sorry." I took his hand, leaned in and kissed him. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. The words kept sounding over and over in my head. _I have a promise to keep_.

I took a knife out of my belt, hand shaking, almost crying when I saw the look of relief on Phox's face. I'm sorry, I don't want to do this. Phox closed his eyes.

_I have a promise to keep. _I took a deep breath. But the knife that shot forward wasn't mine.


	14. Trusting the Enemy

**This is the way the world ends**

**Not with a bang, but with a whimper**

**-The Hollow Man**

I jumped away from Phox's limp body just as the cannon sounded. I squinted through the rain to see an all too familiar figure.  
"Why can't you just leave me alone?" I yelled at Roman.

"You're welcome." Roman took the knife out of Phox's stomach and rinsed the blood off in the rain. I didn't like this at all.  
"'You're welcome'?! What the hell is wrong with you?" I had never been so angry and upset at the same time.

"Yeah. You're welcome." Roman repeated. "You obviously weren't going to do it, and the poor guy was in pain, so I did you a favour."  
"'The poor guy'?" I stood up and started advancing towards Roman angrily. "You did me a favour? Go. To. Hell."

"Look, I'm sorry he's dead, I really am, but you look like you're about to collapse, and killing Phox would have put you in danger. When was the last time you ate or drank something?" Roman asked, just as the rain subsided a little.

When was the last time I had something to eat or drink? I had been running on adrenaline the past few days, and I couldn't actually remember eating or drinking. The anthem started playing, showing Ottilie, Thistle and Phox. The Gamemakers were obviously not expecting anybody else to die.

Not unless I kill Roman. Roman saw the change in my eyes, from angry and flustered to concentrated and sure of myself. My hand itched to reach down to my waist where my knives where hanging, waiting to be used.

"Wren, stop it. I'm stronger than you and you know it. I don't want to hurt you but I will." Roman stood his ground. Cold rainwater trickled down his bare arms, but he wasn't shaking- he was stood still and solid. He was almost scary. Almost.  
"I hope you rot in hell." I spat, bringing my knife up. I could feel my heart pounding faster and faster, the rhythmic beat resonating through my whole body- too loudly. The next thing I knew, the knife was slipping from my fingers, the ground was coming closer and closer, and Roman's arms caught me just before everything went dark...

* * *

I woke up on a sofa, wrapped in a blanket. I had to be dreaming. I wasn't back in the real Capitol, I was dreaming. I was still in the Games. But this had to be real- I knew this because in dreams, it can't be this painful.

My chest hurt, and it was hard to breathe. It felt like I had been holding my breath for a long time but instead of taking in huge gulps of air I could only manage small gasps. My body shook with chills that came as suddenly as they went.

Roman came out of a bathroom holding a wet cloth, which he put on my head. It was ice cold and made me shiver again.  
"Don't!" I rasped, pushing the cold cloth away from me.

"I have to, Wren, you're burning up." Roman told me.  
"Stay away." I huddled the blanket around me as a protective barrier and tried to squash myself into the corner of the sofa, but I could barely move. I was too tired, and my chest hurt too much.

"Wren, I think you have pneumonia." Roman told me, as if that would make me less edgy.  
"Where am I?" I asked him, looking around.

"You're in one of the apartments in the arena." Roman told me. "I got a key for it at the Cornucopia."  
"That's really valuable." I noted.

"Yeah. I think that Django Valentine tried to mess with us- he put the least valuable things inside the Cornucopia and the most valuable nearer the edges." Roman told me, dabbing my head with the cold cloth despite my protests. "So whoever risked going right into the Cornucopia was going there for no reason."

"I don't know. All I got was some iodine pills and a belt of knives." I said. "That doesn't seem so valuable."  
"Are you sure? I mean, where would you be if you drank some of the rainwater and didn't purify it first? You would be dead like Finola what's-her-name from District 10."

"Someone else died? When? How?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, I saw I was keeping watch out of the window this morning, and I guess she was so thirsty she was willing to drink puddle water. Anyway, that's my point- she didn't have those iodine pills like you. And without your knives, you might not have been able to defend yourself from the mutts." Roman told me.

"You've seen them too?"

"Yeah. Three- my parents and my sister. They didn't fool me though."

"How come? They fooled me with Katniss, and Phox with Peeta." I winced at the mention of Phox's name, eyes watering with tears. I didn't cry though. I refused to cry in front of Roman.

"Well, for one thing my parents are dead. And for another, they called my sister by her name." Roman told me.  
"And that was suspicious because..." I trailed off, waiting for him to explain why his parents calling his sister by her name was suspicious.  
"Because they never knew my sister." Roman's eyes were solemn and sad. "They died seven years ago, in the bombings. My mom died about three weeks after my sister was born, and I had to raise her."

"Seven years ago... how old are you?" I asked.

Roman looked at me sadly. "Seventeen." He gave me a second to do the math.

"You've raised your sister since you were ten?" I asked, feeling so sorry for him. Roman nodded.

"Yeah. I knew I couldn't do a good job, and I tried to get someone to adopt her, so she would be better off, but nobody would take her in. They had their own problems and couldn't afford to look after a baby, so I had to raise her. Don't get me wrong, I love her to bits, but I keep wondering if she would have had a better life if I tried harder and gave her to an orphanage or something."

"No! That wouldn't have been better- trust me, I stayed in an orphanage for three weeks before I was handed off to live with a group of strangers in an apartment that we all shared- you made the right decision."  
"You think so?" Roman's lip quirked into a smile.

"Absaloutely." I nodded earnestly. Roman smile got bigger. "Why are you smiling?"

"You're so... emotional. Haven't you noticed? You care about people more than you should, all I had to do was tell you about my sister and you finally calmed down enough to let me help you." He told me.

I bit my lip. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"  
Roman considered it for a moment. "With anybody else, I think it would be bad. But with me, it's good. Especially now. Be right back, I'm going to go get the soup." He left me without further explanation.

I let him go silently- I still didn't really forgive him for killing Phox, but a part of me knew he was right. I wouldn't have been able to kill him. And if I did, I probably would have tossed myself off the edge of the city platform for putting him out of his misery.  
"Here, drink this." Roman bought a steaming bowl of soup to my lips.

"Ugh. Not hungry." I pushed the bowl away. "And even if I was I wouldn't eat that."

"Come on, I know it doesn't smell good, but it has medicine in it. You need to get better as soon as possible." Roman took a spoonful of the yucky-smelling soup and held it to my lips. Fortunately, it was hot enough that I couldn't taste what it tasted like, and even though it scalded my tongue it made me warmer. Eventually, I took the bowl from Roman and started eating on my own accord. When I finished the bowl, I felt ten times better.

"Well, that's the third bowl you've eaten in five days, I think that you're almost healthy again." Roman said.  
"I've been here for seven days?" I asked.

"Yeah. I couldn't leave you unconcious in the rain, and you were exhausted. Did you eat or drink anything?" Roman called from the kitchen.  
"No, not a lot, I guess." I admitted. "There wasn't any time. Hey- how come you don't have pneumonia?"

"Oh, well, after I got you back here and you were still unconcious, I took a shower to warm myself up." Roman told me. "Speaking of showers- that's what you should do."

"Fine." I went to stand up. My chest barely hurt now. Then I noticed something. "Where are my clothes?" I asked. All I was wearing were my underclothes.  
"They were soaking wet- but I think they're dry now." Roman told me. "Don't worry, I didn't look, if that's what you're worried about." He added as an afterthought. I blushed and huddled the blanket closer around me as I went to the bathroom.

The water warmed me up and my chills stopped. I used my fingers to untangle my hair, which was still in the braid Katniss had done on the day the Games started. I turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around me, then put my dark hair up in a high ponytail. Both my green and my brown eye were bloodshot and tired looking. I sighed and started drying my skin with the towel- this apartment didn't have the proper Capitol showers that dried you as soon as you stepped out.

I heard a bang come from the other room and stopped suddenly. Everything was silent for a few moments until something crashed loudly. I wrapped the towel tightly around me and peeked outside the bathroom door. My heart froze when I saw who it was- The Careers.


	15. Survival of The Fittest

**So I haven't uploaded in 3 months... I'm so so so so so so so sorry. I wish I had a good excuse, but I don't really so... sorry, again!**

* * *

**On the flesh of smaller forms of wildlife**

** the eagle she does fill her craw**

** A predator of Nature's wild kingdom **

**and Nature lives by her own law **

**And the predators of Nature's wild kingdom**

** they have to kill to stay alive**

** It is called the survival of the fittest **

**where only the fittest survive.**

**- It is Survival of the Fittest- Francis Duggan**

In the panic of the moment I grabbed the closest thing to me- an ornate silver candelabra studded with black and blue stones that had no candles in them. I threw it towards a Career that was shakily holding a gun in Roman's direction. I think he was too scared to use it- or maybe he didn't know how to use it.

**(The extent of weapons the Capitol people had was the fake plasto-metallan victory weapons that were crafted in every other Hunger Games Gift and Memorabillia shop. (After each Game the weapon used to kill the last Tribute was crafted using a plastic-metal mix- most of the time. Usually it was arrows, a sword, a trident, something metallic, so the weapons looked like they were metal but were harmless plastic.**

**Occasionally, the weapons had to be made out of something different, and they weren't as fun to play with. One year, it was a brick, another year it was a pair of hands- basically, skin coloured gloves. Another year- and this was the worst ever 'weapon', it was a fish bowl. **  
**That year- the 63rd Hunger Games- the Head Gamemaker was a man called Granville Lorensdale, and even though I was only four at the time, I remembered him because he was famous for being the worst Gamemaker ever. The arena was a huge maze of shops in a shopping centre, and the victor and the last tribute were in a petshop. The last tribute got drowned in a fishbowl.**

**Only a couple thousand people bought the fishbowl, it wasn't very popular. I demanded to get a fishbowl, one with an actual fish in it. I got a little purple fish with stripy fins. It died after four days because I forgot to tell my Avox to feed it. )**

None of us were ready to killed anybody- not even Raff. He may be all show and muscles and, "Hunger Games winner, how could it not be me?" but he was still a Capitol kid. We grew up in a world of Avoxes and glitz and glamour, coddled like babies, the only big decisions in our lives being, "How many of my gold rings should wager on a Katniss Everdeen winning the 74th Hunger Games?" or "Should I get my body dyed turquoise or violet?". Raff was one of those people. At least, I hoped he was just as much of a bubble head as the rest of us.

_Maybe all the rumours about him being an amazing fighter were false?_ I wondered after I hit the boy in front of me- was it Ajax?- on the back of the head with a lamp. This was because Raff was just standing at the edge of the crowd, weapon raised to protect Katri if he needed to.

_Why was he doing that?_ I found my answer immediately afterwards when thick ropy vines crashed through the floor-to-ceiling windows and grabbed onto Ajax who was lying unconcious on the carpeted floor. Blood from where I hit his head soaked into the carpet turning it a bright red.

They were the same vines that had thorns dripping with scorpion muttation venom. The effects of scorpion venom varied from person to person- sometimes the venom killed people only to revive them with so little oxygen in their brain they started hallucinating, sometimes the subject was strong enough they skipped the death part and just were overwhelmed with the intense urge to kill.

Raff was pretty strong- much to my dismay- and when the poison thorns touched him a few seconds went by and he stood up rigidly. He turned around so I could see his eyes- they were bloodshot and- well, the only other way to describe them was bloodthirsty.  
"Roman! Forget them just get away!" I yelled to Roman, not knowing if he heard, before I ran back into the bathroom. I shoved my shoulder against the door to stop Ajax from getting in, and locked it with shaky hands.

_Great going, Wren. Now you've locked yourself in. Idiot._ I could feel my heart thudding shakily in my chest. I could hear Ajax drumming and clawing at the door. _Oh, and you've also abandoned Roman out there with the Careers. Double idiot!_

There was no way to get out- unless I could squeeze through the small window near the top of the wall, above the shower... Ajax kept pounding on the door. I would take my chances with the door. I picked up my clothes off the floor and started climbing up the showerhead. It hurt my feet, and the metal groaned in a menacing way like it was about to give in under my weight.

Ajax crashed into the bathroom, his eyes narrowing with anger when he saw me. He slipped on the wet floor, and I had a few more seconds to open the window- it was jammed. I pushed it again, but it still didn't budge. Ajax picked himself off the floor and grabbed for my ankle. His cold fingers skimmed by my foot but he couldn't get a proper grip. I pushed frantically at the window, just as Ajax grabbed me again, almost pulling me down.  
I fell so suddenly the window opened and completely fell off the hinges. Of course, it was a pull.

I swung the small window and whacked Ajax around the face. He groaned and got knocked unconcious, falling on the door so it closed. I couldn't see if Roman was there anymore. I grabbed the clothes that had fallen onto the shower cabinet floor and climbed back to the little window. A cold breeze was blowing outside, and goosebumps rose on my arms.

It was now or never. There was a tree close by- and maybe it was just my imagination, but I swear the forest was closing in on the City more and more each day. I wriggled forward arms outstretched until I could reach the tip of the sharp pins of the tree.  
Behind me, I could hear the door opening, pushing Ajax's body out of the way.

I pushed forward, panicking- so much that I lost my balance and fell out of the window completely. My arms flung around wildly, trying to catch something to slow my fall. My arm hit a prickly branch, sending me spiralling into more branches.

I landed on the ground with a thud that knocked the wind out of me. _If anything,_ I thought sullenly, rubbing my arms to wipe away the blood that was pooling on my arms from the scratches,_ the branches broke your fall._  
I breathed in deeply, though it made my chest ache. I dug my nails into the damp bark of the tree to pick myself up.  
Great. Just great. I'm hurt, I'm cold, I'm wearing a towel and for all I know a camera could be watching me right now. I moodily picked up my clothes and put them on behind a tree. I had no socks or shoes and the bottom of my trousers and my feet were muddy and cold, but hopefully I might be able to sneak back into the apartment. Maybe.

I trudged off in a random direction that was going away from the apartment building. I realised I had also left my backpack there with all my weapons, food and other supplies. And I had also lost Roman. As I walked away from the building, three cannon shots sounded. They resonated in my head and gave me a headache.

So, at the end of the day I was sick, cold, wet, tired, without supplies or weapons, without an ally, and without shoes. Worst of all- I broke two nails. This day was getting better and better.


	16. Rules Were Made To Be Obeyed

**Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish**  
**Now are visions ne'er to vanis**  
**From thy spirit they shall pass**  
**No more- like dew-drop from the grass**  
**- Spirits of the Dead, Edgar Allen Poe**

I smothered my mouth into my hand, trying to make my coughs quiet, just in case anybody was around. My knees gave out again and I leaned against a tree to support myself. The cold had seeped into my bones, making them so weak and painful it was difficult to walk.  
Wait a second, had I already walked past this tree? This tree had ivy crawling up the side- I had definitely passed this tree. Was I walking in circles? And was it getting colder? It felt like it was getting colder. I moved to wrap my jacket tighter around my only to feel my shirt was damp with sweat. Maybe my fever was coming back.

My vision suddenly span around so suddenly I decided to give up walking. I wasn't getting anywhere anyway. I collapsed at the base of the tree to see that the shrivelled flowers on the ground were starting to go icy. It was definitely getting colder. Django must hate me.  
I rolled up my trousers to inspect my legs- careful to not get any of the blood from my broken nails onto the material- and saw that already dark purplish bruises were blossoming on my pale skin.

I lifted my top up halfway to see the same thing was happening on my stomach. At the very least, there were no broken bones. I was lucky. The sky was darkening, making the ground beneath the canopy of leaves even darker. I should make a fire, I'll get matches and- oh, that's right. I don't have any matches anymore. They were probably being used by some Careers right now.

It was all too easy to imagine Raff and his crew laughing about how they killed Roman, stole my stuff and got away with it. But they might not have killed Roman, I reminded myself fiercely. And they haven't killed you. Not yet. Just remember what Katniss and Peeta taught you.  
What did they teach me? I'm sure they must have taught me how to make a fire... didn't they? If they did, I couldn't remember. Maybe I had learnt it from one of my science lessons. Why did they even teach us? Everybody knew we weren't listening. But according to President Snow, "Knowledge is power, power is control and control is safety."

I had minimal knowledge, barely any safety and absolutely no control. Why didn't Katniss and Peeta help me? They probably didn't even care anymore. Nobody cared. _Even I don't care_, I thought miserably, struggling to stay awake. Let me die of cold. Let wild mutts eat me. And see if anyone cares I'm dead.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of a crackling fire. The sound made me wake up so suddenly I got a head rush. My eyes scanned the small clearing I was in. It was pitch black, except for the dancing orange flames near me. What is going on?

Somebody poked a wooden stick into the flames to add more kindling. When I looked up to see who that someone was, I almost screamed.  
"Mom?" I asked hoarsely. My mother simply glanced up and smiled. "Oh, God, am I dead?" Before, the thought of death seemed quite nice. Now faced with the actual possibility I might be dead, it was so scary.  
Mom smiled again. "No, you're not dead." I let out an audible sigh at that.

"Then what are you doing here? Where's dad?" I looked around, but again, I couldn't see anything but darkness.  
"Just making sure you're safe." She said gently, and as if on cue, my father walked towards the fire and sat down next to my mother. It was so heartbreakingly wonderful to see them again. Cronus and Nefertiti Fairbane were- in my eyes- the best parents anyone could ever have. My mother was named after who was thought to be the most beautiful queen of all times. My father was named after a god of mythology. They both lived up to their names.

"There's nobody around... for now." My father looked at me sternly, chastising me silently for being so careless and not making sure I was safe.

"Why are you here? If I'm not dead, does this mean this is a dream?" I pressed for more answers.

"Of course this is a dream. And we're here because we need to keep you safe." My father's voice was calm and serious. A year after their death's I forgot what their voices sounded like. It was so good to see them and hear them again.  
"I don't want to be in the Games any more. I just want to die." I huddled closer to the fire, even though I couldn't feel it's warmth.  
"Wouldn't you rather grow up happily, and die of old age?" My mother asked, with a sympathetic look on her face. I didn't say anything. I would rather die of old age rather than being hacked and stabbed to death by a machete, but it was just so hard to live right now.  
Even if I did survive the Games, everyone would always look at me with contempt in their eyes, think of me as good-for-nothing Capitol scum. What kind of life was that?

"You'd be surprised, when you have the chance to stand still and die or fight for life what you would do." My father told me. Behind me, the sound of a snapping branch sounded in my ears. I whipped around, but there was nothing but darkness.  
"What was that?" I asked warily.  
"The real world. You can fight to live, you know. You know how to do it." My mother came closer to me, but didn't touch me. She didn't even tuck my fringe behind my ear like she used to.

"Please don't leave me." I begged, knowing they going to go away. I didn't want to be alone.  
"Wren, we've never left you." My father assured me.  
"And we never will." My mother smiled at me again. I glanced away into the darkness for just a moment, but when I looked back they were already gone.

* * *

My eyes snapped open. I could hear someone cussing underneath their breath, close to me. If it hadn't been for the bright pink locks of hair, I wouldn't have realised that Mallory Caprice was the one who was there.  
I held my breath, hoping she would just walk away without realising I was there, but she stumbled in my direction and nearly tripped over me. Her breath hitched and she whipped out a lantern, flashing the bright light in my face.  
"Oh, it's just you." She said, turning the flashlight off. "What are you doing here?"  
We were in the middle of a Game where we fight to the death, and she was striking up a casual conversation? It's a miracle she's still alive, I thought.

"You know, trying to survive. The usual." I replied sarcastically, pulling myself into a standing position.  
"Surviving." Mallory said vaguely. "You know, they haven't shown who's died yet." The star- and moon-light that managed to shine through the canopy of trees provided minimal lighting, but it was enough to see that Mallory had a weird look on her face.  
"That means the Gamemakers are expecting someone else to die." It dawned on me what Mallory meant. She was going to kill me. Something twinged inside me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Mallory took a knife out of her pocket, staring at it with a sad look as if she was saying goodbye to an old friend. If you had the chance to fight for survival, you would be surprised what you'd do.

I didn't even realise that I had grabbed the knife from Mallory's hand and shoved her into a tree with the other hand until it was too late- I pressed both hand against her to stop her from moving. She made a strange gurgling sound and sticky liquid spilled over my hands. I jumped back from Mallory's limp body. She collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath. The knife that was in my hand was so sharp it cut through Mallory's skin. I gagged when I saw the red spreading out on her shirt.

Within one minute, a cannon sounded. She was dead. Her eyes looked empty and lifeless. She wasn't breathing. There was a trickle of blood in the corner of her mouth. To my surprise, I didn't cry. I knew what to do. My moves were mechanical, as if I wasn't controlling my body. It moved automatically.

I took Mallory's backpack off her shoulders. I took off her boots and socks, and put them onto my feet. Her jacket was fairly bloodless, so I took that off and put it over my own jacket. Then I took her backpack, and walked away.  
I wasn't just Capitol scum anymore. I was a killer. I still didn't cry though.

Rule Number 1- Do not show weakness. Rule Number 2- Do not show emotion. Rule Number 3- Do not hesitate to kill.

It turns out I'd followed my rules after all.


	17. Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

**Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while, I've just had to do so many tests :(**

**From dust you came**  
**And to dust you shall return**  
**- Genesis 3:19**

A few metres after I walked away from Mallory's body instead of hearing the droning hum of the hovercraft that should have come to collect the body, I heard the loud fanfare of the Capitol anthem._ Roman_. This was my chance.

I looked up towards the sky, hoping to see the hologram of those who died. The thick leaves of the trees blocked out every little bit of light from getting in. I couldn't see the hologram. My heart beat faster, and I ran in random directions trying to find a gap in the trees to see the holograms. _Please don't be dead, please don't be dead._

The anthem was coming to an end and I was going to miss my chance to see who had died. Just as I came into a clearing, the anthem faded and died. The last word I saw on the hologram were District 11, but I didn't look up in time to see who it was from District 11.  
For a second, in the darkest corner of my mind I wished it was my picture up there, with the words District 12 underneath._ No. Don't you dare think that._ And don't wish that Roman was alive. He's better off dead. We all are.

_Should I keep walking, or go to sleep for the nigh_t. I closed my eyes to ponder the thought. The image of Mallory lying limp and lifeless flashed behind my eyes.

Most definitely not going to sleep, then.

The weird thing was, I didn't feel tired, but at the same time I didn't feel awake. I didn't even know if I was hungry or not. But this was familiar .. I knew what this was. After my parents had died, I didn't really know how it was normal to live. I didn't have my parents to tell me what to do, I didn't have my Avoxes to make my food or lay out my clothes or anything. Was I depressed because of Mallory? It felt like it.

Back when my parents died, I didn't really know what to do. I felt the same way now- but even more helpless. And if you had grown up in the Capitol, being helpless was a bad thing. Like when your costume surgery went wrong and instead of getting tiger print skin you got zebra print, which was way out of fashion, but you had to walk down the street looking like a zebra for three weeks until the prints faded away, knowing everyone was judging you.  
But in this case, instead of being judged, I was being hunted, namely by the Careers._ But they're not Careers_, I reminded myself fiercely._ They're just in Career Districts._ That doesn't mean anything. I wasn't worried about the others like Katri and Delphi as much as I was about Raff. He was a a dark storm cloud in my already gray sky.

As I worked my way in a general forward direction, I wondered about Delphi. I used to know her at school, she was well known for being the class trendsetter. She patterned her hands with swirly lines and dots, and the next day everyone was doing it. She once complimented me on my colour-changing contact lenses, so I always thought that she was a nice person. But lately, she seemed more vicious. She thought she was in love with Raff, so she would do anything for him.

Sometimes, if boys and girls allied themselves, they would start to fall in love. This was because they thought if they were in love they wouldn't have to kill each other in the end, but they always did. It had happened with Clove and Cato in the 74th Hunger Games, and I heard it happened to Haymitch and a girl called Maysilee very briefly in another Hunger Games. It was just another part of the Capitol's revenge on the Districts for the uprising- it may be bad to kill people, but it's worse to kill someone you love.

Just as I thought about how it was worse to kill someone you love, I realised that I was walking towards the centre of the Capitol, to where I had my first date with a boy whose name I now couldn't remember. It was by a fountain that usually flowed with pink lemonade, but pink champagne when there was a party or celebration, which was actually most days.

I collapsed at the edge of the fountain, leaning my sweaty forehead against the cool mother-of-pearl. When I opened my eyes, I could see my reflection staring tiredly back at me. My reflection- there was some lemonade at the bottom of the pool. I didn't know if Mallory had any water, or at least any empty bottles, so I scooped up the lemonade with my hands. It seemed relatively clean and new, and even if it wasn't I wouldn't have cared.

With every gulp the pain in my limbs seemed to go away, the knot in my chest loosened, and I drank until there was so little left at the bottom of the fountain it couldn't be scooped up. I sat down and leaned against the cold stone of the fountain, giggling when I burped.  
Oh, my goodness giddy gracious, what was happening? Shimmering rainbow lights danced in front of my eyes, and I the more they swayed, the more it seemed they were hypnotising me into falling asleep.

For some random reason I remembered the night of the ball before we went into the arena. The punch there tasted really good. Like fizzy lemon and honey. My eyelids were very heavy now.

I remembered the day after the party... _What happened?_ I asked, my head pounding.  
_It's not your fault_. Peeta's voice echoed.

_No wonder it seemed to taste better the more and more we drank._ Phox groaned.

_It's not your fault. It's not your fault_. Peeta kept saying that. What wasn't my fault?_ None of us realised the punch was alcoholic._

Oh, dear. I'm in trouble, aren't I?  
_I'll worry about that later... I'll just go to sleep now..._

I woke up to the feeling of a bull mutt stomping on my head, and the cold blade of a knife pressed against my throat.

"You." A gruff voice snarled.

I groaned and went to cover my eyes. Why was everything too bright? When my hand twitched and started moving, somebody clamped their foot onto my wrist, so hard I cried out in pain.

My eyes flickered open, and when they adjusted to the bright light, I saw Raff's face glaring angrily down at me.  
"Whaddyou want?" I muttered. I was hungover and in no mood to be concerned for my life.  
"Where is she?" Raff looked murderous. "Where's Katri?"

"Do I look like I'm psychic or something?" I moaned. Why won't he leave me alone? The blade pressed further into my skin, and I could feel sticky warm droplets of blood trickling down my neck.

"I'm not screwing around here, girl. Where is she?"

"How many times do I need to say it before you understand, I don't know." I repeated forcefully.

"You have to know, though. Your boyfriend stole her, and you're allied with him." I recognised Delphi's voice.  
"I'm not allied with anybody, and he's _not_ my boyfriend." I spat.

"Please, I've seen the way he looks at you." Raff sneered.

" I don't think she knew. Raff, I can't tell whether she's telling the truth or not." Delphi whispered. "But if she is, maybe she should join us?"  
"No!" Raff shouted, just as I laughed and told them, "I'd rather die before I would join you."  
"That can be arranged." Delphi snarled. I didn't understand, one minute she wanted me to join, then the next she didn't? She really was just Raff's lapdog, wasn't she. But she didn't realise she was expendable, just a pawn in his game.

"You just don't get it, do you." I found myself saying quietly. "This has nothing to do with me, or Roman or Katri. Whatever we do now, we're all going to die eventually. All but one of us, and until then this is all a game. Why do you care about Katri so much when you know she's going to have to die? Why do you care about pleasing Raff so much, when you must realise he doesn't love you, and he's probably going to be the one to kill you."  
Raff and Delphi were silent. "Are there any others with you? Or are you the only ones left. If there are, I hope you do realise you're all going to die horrible deaths." I didn't know why I was going off on this tangent, but my anger was building up inside of me. "And guess what? It's not fair! Not fair at all!"

Raff's grip on the knife loosened a tiny bit. "SO YOU KNOW WHAT, DJANGO?" I was starting to yell, letting out all my built up emotions. "UP YOURS! WHY DON'T YOU JUST DO US ALL A FAVOUR AND MAKE US BURN TO DEATH AND WATCH US RUN FOR OUR LIVES, HUH? 'CAUSE EITHER WAY, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE AND WE'RE ALL GOING TO BE BEGGING FOR MERCY! SO JUST GO AHEAD AND DO IT. BURN US TO THE GROUND, I DARE YOU!"

To my surprise, Django obliged.


End file.
